News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
A new South Tower on the Cookeville Regional campus will bring more room for care, but less room for parking.
CEO Buffy Key said some of the hospital’s construction plans will increase the need for parking by expanding into currently existing parking spots. Key said the hospital is exploring all options and has parking experts looking into the matter.
“The only thing that’s a little bit different than us from a physician’s office is the fact that we never close, you know what I mean?” Key said. “And so our employees, we have 2,600 employees give or take a few and so they’re here all the time, twenty-four hours a day. And so that’s always a concern when we start thinking about sharing. We would love to do that for the downtown area but I don’t know how we could make that happen.”
Key said one estimate for a parking garage said it would cost some $37,000 per parking spot. Key said that would total around $5 million that could be used for hospital equipment or staff.
“Then again, none of those people can get in here if we don’t have good parking for them,” Key said. “So it’s kind of a catch twenty-two. We’ve got to look at all of it.”
Key said the hospital used to have Tennessee Tech students using its parking lot but the installation of entry gates has reduced the issue. Key said finding parking space is a problem that every organization in the area should work to figure out together.
“With us it’s just a matter of our footprint,” Key said. “I don’t know how much further we can go out. We may have to go up, which means a parking garage option if possible.”
