New Kona hospital eyed

KAILUA-KONA — There are hundreds of acres of state land just across the highway above Kona International Airport that would make a convenient home for a new Kona hospital — one which could serve a teaching function.

That’s according to Naalehu Rep. Richard Creagan, a retired physician who says he has the support of House leadership for pursuing the funds it would take to build such a facility. Jerris Hedges, dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, supports the concept of an affiliation with the facility if it is built, Creagan said, following a meeting with Hedges and his leadership team in late October.

The land is ideally situated near the airport, allowing visiting doctors easy access, the lawmaker said. The proximity to Hawaii Community College — Palamanui would allow the college to expand training opportunities associated with its nursing program, Creagan said. That’s if the ambitious plan has a chance to move forward.

“It’s a great location that seems to be available,” Creagan said. “The existing hospital is not in the right place, it’s inadequate and it’s not working out financially.”

The cramped and aging 94-bed hospital in Kealakekua has no room to expand. Like the other facilities in the state’s hospital safety net, it has bled red ink for years. Kona Community Hospital plugged a $6 million budget gap by closing down the skilled nursing unit and eliminating 34 positions over the summer.

The hospital is facing a similar $7 million gap for the coming fiscal year. That’s due to an increase in $3 million in costs for retiree benefits, $2 million in employee raises and a $2 million reduction in state funding.

The movement toward public-private partnerships is bound to meet resistance from the unions, and it wouldn’t hurt to sit back and watch how the things shake out as Maui’s three hospitals transition to Kaiser Permanente, Creagan said. But the push is raising awareness that money is going to have to be put into the hospital system one way or another, he said.

“We have support for sure,” Creagan said. “We have the medical school buying in, and I’m meeting with the head of Queen’s next week. … We have two physicians, one in the House and one in the Senate. We’re in a pretty good position to push it forward.”

Kona Sen. Josh Green, a Kohala emergency room doctor, said he supports the plan. Building an entire new hospital would require $300 million in funding, however, he said. For that to be realized, a full public-private partnership between the hospital and The Queen’s Medical Center would need to develop, he said. Green said he will introduce legislation enabling such a partnership as soon as the parties are ready and ask for it.

The Legislature passed similar rules this past session, but they were specific to Maui’s hospitals, which are widely regarded as a developing test case for privatization of Hawaii’s public hospitals.

Creagan’s plan for a full hospital north of town is possible with time, Green said.

“The current opportunity appears to be a free-standing ER in partnership with Queen’s,” Green said. “That is the initial footprint for a new facility.”

It’s not clear where KCH would stand on the construction of a new hospital with a teaching component — or the notion of a free-standing emergency room facility. But the leadership of the existing hospital seems to be paving the way for the kind of public-private partnership that Green believes would be necessary to make the concept a reality.

“Right now we’re in the early stages of discussions with Queen’s and we have signed a mutual non-disclosure agreement,” said KCH spokeswoman Judy Donovan. “There’s not much more I can say beyond this point, while we explore some collaborative opportunities.”

Hedges, speaking through a spokesperson, told West Hawaii Today that there is “a lot of value in starting discussions” like the one with Creagan, but that conversations are preliminary and nothing has been finalized.