C. Brewer Co. was the previous hospital owner in Pahala, according to Ka’u Hospital administrator Merilyn Harris.
C. Brewer Co. was the previous hospital owner in Pahala, according to Ka‘u Hospital administrator Merilyn Harris.
The state Department of Health’s Division of Community Hospitals built the existing hospital in 1971, to replace C. Brewer’s plantation hospital. Ka‘u Hospital remains the only hospital in a region the same size as Oahu, Harris said.
Hawaii Health Systems Corp. formed in 1997, creating a state hospital system. Ka‘u was one of the first hospitals to join the system.
Federal officials gave Ka‘u Hospital critical access hospital status in 2001. The designation goes to small, rural hospitals that provide emergency and acute services in remove areas, and provides financial assistance to help those hospitals continue to provide those services, despite their small size and isolation.
The hospital opened a Medicare-certified Rural Health Clinic on site in 2003.
Source: Ka‘u Hospital Administrator Merilyn Harris.