A House committee hearing for a bill to fund an ambulance for North Kona will be rescheduled after the state Legislature announced an indefinite suspension of the 2020 Legislative Session.
The House Committee on Health, chaired by Rep. John Mizuno, D-Oahu, was slated to take up Senate Bill 2618 SD2 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Honolulu. That is now off the calendar after both chambers agreed Monday to recess.
The measure, co-sponsored by Sens. Lorraine Inouye, D-North Hawaii, and Kai Kahele, D-Hilo, among Oahu and Maui lawmakers, seeks appropriations to establish and fund one advanced life support ambulance based at Makalei in North Kona.
In calling for the new ambulance, the measure points to an increase in population that has corresponded with a steady increase in calls for emergency medical services.
For many residents in the area, primary care services are as far as 30 miles away. The closest ambulance-equipped fire station is 8 miles away in Kailua-Kona. Other ambulances that serve the area include Keauhou, which is 12 miles away, and Waikoloa, which is 27 miles away.
Testimony in support of the bill as it moved through the Senate was submitted by Mayor Harry Kim, North Kona Councilwoman Karen Eoff, Hilo Medical Center, Hawaii Fire Department and concerned individuals.
However, the Department of Health doesn’t see a need for an ambulance for the North Kona fire station because patient volume is low. The DOH is working to secure funding for ambulances already in service throughout the state and not looking to add new service.
The Makalei area is serviced by the Makalei Fire Station, which was completed in late 2012, but it doesn’t have an ambulance. A California donor was prepared to gift an ambulance to Makalei years ago, but eventually withdrew the offer a couple of years back because of a lack of funding to staff the vehicle.
Attempts to secure funding for staff have been fruitless over the years since with legislation introduced in both the House and Senate dying in committees.
It costs about $1.5 million to fund a unit for the first year, and $1.1 million for recurring years.