WAILUKU — Maui Memorial Medical Center is in talks with Kaiser Permanente Hawaii about a possible partnership.
WAILUKU — Maui Memorial Medical Center is in talks with Kaiser Permanente Hawaii about a possible partnership.
The Maui News reported Saturday the talks began this summer. The state-funded hospital has been in similar discussions with Hawaii Pacific Health since July.
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii President Mary Ann Barnes says the nonprofit health care system would keep Maui’s only acute care hospital open to the community and not limit its usage to Kaiser members.
The state Legislature must first pass a bill allowing such a public-private partnership before Maui Memorial may team up with either party.
Attempts to pass such legislation ended with bills mired in committee during the past two years.
Hawaii’s public hospitals are struggling as state funding shrinks even as salaries and other expenses rise.