Major parking lot closed with big changes coming to UVRMC
A parking lot at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo that will close as work on a major hospital expansion project continues, Thursday, June 4, 2015. SPENSER HEAPS, Daily Herald
Work on a major hospital expansion continues south of Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo on Thursday, June 4, 2015. SPENSER HEAPS, Daily Herald
Work on a major hospital expansion continues south of Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo on Thursday, June 4, 2015. SPENSER HEAPS, Daily Herald
The old hospital tower, right, will be torn down and replaced at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo on Thursday, June 4, 2015. SPENSER HEAPS, Daily Herald
How to find parking for patients and visitors to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center during construction.
PROVO — Like players on a chess board, departments at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center are being moved.
It’s part of a long-term project to improve the facility, which is expected to be completed in 2018. It includes replacing the existing seven-story tower and building a new outpatient facility. That will combine hospital services with several physician clinics and educational space.
The parking lot at 500 West and 940 North, on the west side of the hospital, is closed as of Sunday. Patients are asked to park between 300 and 500 West on the south side of 940 North or on the lower level of the east or west parking terraces on the north side of the hospital campus.
“We have to close down this major parking lot,” UVRMC spokeswoman Janet Frank said. “Monday through Friday we have an excellent valet service. People may pull up to the front of the west building, the main entrance off of 500 West, to get the service.”
Free valet parking will be available from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The hospital valet service uses spots in the parking terrace. The number of those parking stalls will be increased with the anticipated corresponding need for more of the service.
“We are doing everything possible to still keep the parking for patients as close and convenient as it can be,” Frank said. “We will be having some shuttles. If any patients need help getting across the road or getting into the building, they can look for those shuttles and take advantage of that.”
There will be a groundbreaking ceremony June 17 in the area previously occupied by the parking lot. Fencing will be installed around the area. Another future change will be to place a covered walkway and a crosswalk between the parking area across 940 North and the hospital’s south building.
Employees are being asked to use a new gravel parking lot on the southeast corner of 940 North and 300 West or the upper level of the parking terraces. The hospital appears to be serious about not allowing employees to park in visitor or patient areas. If they park in unauthorized areas, they will have their vehicles towed or booted, instructions say.
In the center of the new parking lot on the south side of 940 North is a building which has been used for grounds maintenance, but will be used for the hyperbaric chamber and wound care clinic. The building has been remodeled and modular units have been added.
“It is a temporary move for them — about two to three years,” Frank said.
One of the next moves will be to demolish the rehabilitation building.
The rehab department and other departments are being moved to new locations in the existing hospital tower.
The current tower is more than 40 years old.
“The facility is aging and we need to upgrade it and the patient care areas and really give us a building that will take us into the next 40 to 50 years,” Frank said. “The new area on the south is expected to become the new main entrance to the hospital.”
Future patient rooms will be larger and will be configured to meet newer technology more efficiently. Services areas, including the imaging department and cancer and heart services, will be move to be closer together.
