Breaking Ground in 2015: West Maui Hospital Medical Center is almost here!
By Katherine Kama‘ema‘e Smith
Just north of Kā‘anapali, on land that is part of the Kā‘anapali 2020 community plan, sits 14.994 acres of land between the Honoapi‘ilani Highway and Kā‘anapali Coffee Farms. This site will soon become the first hospital built in Hawai‘i in 20 years, and West Maui’s connection to healthcare; a 24-hour emergency room and hospital with 25 critical access beds, plus three operating rooms.
Unlike large state-run hospitals, this small private facility will be able to achieve a “critical access” designation from the Federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Under this designation, cost based reimbursement for services to Medicare and Medicaid patients will give the West Maui Hospital business model a high probability for success.
Adjacent to the small hospital there will be two other facilities: a 40-bed Skilled Nursing Facility, a separate 40-bed Assisted Living Facility, as well as a future 40-bed Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Facility. West Maui residents will also benefit from two new medical office building/clinics on the hospital campus, so that physician and hospital services are available at one central location, midway between Lāhainā/Kā‘anapali and Honokōwai/Kapalua areas.
Currently, it takes up to one hour to drive to Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku; an ambulance can make the run in 30 minutes in good weather. The single lane highway that winds over the Pali cliffs between Lāhainā and Wailuku can be impassable during rockslides or run-away brush fires, and there is no safe alternate route. For West Maui residents and visitors, access to immediate critical care in Lāhainā could make the difference between life and death—especially for victims of stroke, heart attack, or major trauma. The community has supported this hospital project since its inception in 2002.
Despite many obstacles and revised plans, the hospital initiative survived. Even the 2008 recession was not enough to discourage the West Side community or the developer of the hospital, Newport Hospital Corporation. The hospital project has emerged with renewed strength and the formation of the new West Maui Hospital Foundation, Inc.
The West Maui Hospital Foundation, Inc. (WMHF) was formed in 2013 and will be the owner and operator of the hospital facility. Developer of the West Maui Hospital and Medical Center, Newport Hospital Corporation, acquired the land for the hospital and the Certificate of Need (CON) required by the State of Hawai‘i Planning and Development Agency.
WMHF has recently been named and approved by the Hawai‘i State Legislature as the recipient of up to $50 million in Special Purpose Revenue Bonds that will provide a viable financing option and vehicle for the development and construction of the hospital facility.
In July, Lee Imada, Managing Editor of the Maui News, interviewed Brian H. Hoyle, President of Newport Hospital Corporation, who is also a board member of WMHF. Lee reported that the hospital site plan and applications for land use and building entitlements were filed and that the approval process was expected to take a year. Newport Hospital Corporation will oversee construction of the facilities, which it estimates will take 18 months.
What’s next?
After County of Maui budgets are approved at the end of March 2015, remaining items required from the county government will be addressed. When all the required project entitlement approvals and site development permits are in hand, Newport Hospital Corporation will start site work construction. Brian hopes this will be as early as the third quarter of 2015.
Brian applauds all the support of West Maui residents.
For more information and further project updates.
Contact writer Katherine Kama‘ema‘e Smith.
