Construction of the new medical center in Kona is “moving along,” with roofing, plumbing and electrical wiring expected to be completed sometime this week or next, said Richard Taaffe, West Hawaii Community Health Center executive director. This will then be followed with drywall, painting and other finish work at the site, located on Keanalehu Drive near the Villages of Lai Opua.
Construction of the new medical center in Kona is “moving along,” with roofing, plumbing and electrical wiring expected to be completed sometime this week or next, said Richard Taaffe, West Hawaii Community Health Center executive director. This will then be followed with drywall, painting and other finish work at the site, located on Keanalehu Drive near the Villages of Lai Opua.
“Phase one of the medical center has been on track since work began, and we’re anticipating getting the certification of occupation by May 2015,” Taaffe said.
Taaffe gave a brief update about the medical center Friday during a presentation about the planned Lai Opua Community Center on a 26.5-acre parcel, owned by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, adjacent to Kealakehe High School. However, the main presenter at this monthly West Hawaii Hui Laualima meeting was Bo Kahui, executive director of nonprofit Lai Opua 2020.
The much-anticipated medical center is an anchor of the Lai Opua Community Center, “a modern-day puuhonua and regional resource for the greater Kailua-Kona community, with an array of programs and services to meet the health, social, educational and recreational needs of all residents.” The conceptual plan includes a Kamehameha Schools preschool; a community center complex with office spaces, conference rooms, classrooms, a dance and audio visual center, computer lab and library, a teleconference room, a multipurpose game room, space for afterschool programs and a cafe; facilities for Neighborhood Place of Kona, Child and Family Services and The Friends of the Children’s Justice Center of West Hawaii; the medical center; an amphitheater with seating for up to 3,000 people; a gymnasium and aquatic center; a recreation center complex; garden pathways; and an intergenerational day care center and programs provided by Kona Adult Day Care and Family Support Services of Hawaii, Kahui said.
“Lai Opua 2020 was a recipient of Native Hawaiian Education Act funding of nearly $1 million that made it possible for the construction and implementation of school and community programs,” he said. “Over the last four years, Lai Opua 2020 and Kealakehe High School has established the Kau I Ka Malie Center, where Hawaiian language classes, computer literacy and other programs are taught. Also at the center, we’re proud to offer the only certified nursing assistant program from Kohala to Ka‘u.”
The approximately 25,000-square-foot medical center is now being made possible through a partnership with the West Hawaii Community Health Center — a nonprofit working to provide health care to the underserved and underinsured — and Lai Opua 2020 — the charitable arm of Kaniohale Community Association for the Kaniohale subdivision built by DHHL within the Villages of Lai Opua. These organizations combined resources and funding sources to qualify for $9.8 million in New Markets Tax Credits, obtained through the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. West Hawaii Community Health Center and Lai Opua 2020 also created Pono Resource Management, a subsidiary that seeks funds for the medical center while also managing and building it, Kahui said.
The medical center is being constructed in two phases. The first phase is a $9.5 million, 10,500-square-foot facility with seven exam rooms, a procedure room, eight dental operatories for children and adults, five behavioral health consult rooms, patient services area, offices and storage. There’s also a 4,000-square-foot pavilion, which is open for public use until the community center complex is completed, Kahui said. The second phase, which has yet to be funded, includes a partial second story for administration and more room for family practice and outreach, he added.
When the medical center at Lai Opua opens, it will be in addition to the five other West Hawaii Community Health Centers on island, as well as the emergency adult dental van at HOPE Services Hawaii Inc. in Kailua-Kona, Taaffe said. Since 2005, the nonprofit has grown from 2,200 patient visits to nearly 44,000 today.
Besides the medical center, the development’s other anchor — the community center complex — is also progressing with limited funding and capacity, Kahui said. Lai Opua 2020 was awarded $950,000 for civil construction, slated to start at the month’s end. Design plans for the building is about 65 percent complete and lease agreements are pending. Construction documents are anticipated to be done by January, also when Lai Opua 2020 will apply for financing for utility installations and vertical construction, estimated to cost $5.5 million. The nonprofit plans to apply for New Markets Tax Credits for this project.
For more information, visit laiopua.org.