Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 3, 1 March 2009 — Community welcomes improved Molokaʻi General Hospital [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Community welcomes improved Molokaʻi General Hospital

Moloka'i residents, medical staff, healthcare industry and government officials are rejoicing over

the eomplehon of $16.5 million in improvements to Moloka'i General Hospital. Many eame together at a celebration of the redeveloped facility in Ianuary to express thanks for the work done on the island's only fully operational medical facility with emergency services.

"The fundraising was a ehallenge, but we were successful in building private-public partnerships, because it could so easily be shown that the need for services here is so great," said laniee Kalanihui, president of Moloka'i General Hospital. Kalanihui said the redevelopment project goes back to 1996. A federal code eomplianee survey then showed the hospital, built in the 1960s, was lacking in basic infrastructure to accommodate new medical technology. The redevelopment project began eight years ago with fundraising by the Queen's Heahh Systems, to whieh Moloka'i General Hospital belongs. The privately owned and operated entity leveraged its resources with matching capital improvement project funds from the state Legislature. Funding was also provided by the state and county govermnents, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Harry and

Ieanette Weinberg Foundation and various private donors. Redevelopment construction was completed in two phases, whieh began in 2005. Phase I covered renovations to the hospital's emergency room, acute care and imaging centers. Phase II added a special procedures unit, a women's heakh center, laboratory and other facilities, whieh are aimed at providing Moloka'i residents with access to services formerly available only on other islands. "This meant that patients would run up hundreds of dollars in travel costs, plus they would have to endure the stress of medical procedures away from their families. Often, this was such a deterrent that they wouldn't go for procedures that could have prevented their medical conditions from worsening," said Kalanihui. Noting that the hospital's staff and patient populahon is eomprised largely of Native Hawaiians, as is the island's population, Kalanihui said the redevelopment project is also aligned with the efforts of Queen Enima and King Kamehameha IV, whose appeal for help in establishing an institution for quality native healthcare led to the founding of the Queen's Health Systems mission.

NŪ HOU - NEWSBRIEFS

The Molokai'i community gathered to ceiebiate newly completed renovations to Molokū'i Generol Hospitūl, whieh included renovotions to the emergency room ond acute eaie and imaging centers. - Photo: Courtesy of Moloko'i General Hospital