The state is joining forces with The Queen\u2019s Medical Center to fill a gap in health care on the west side of
\nHawaii island.<\/p>\n
Gov. Josh Green on Wednesday announced plans by a new public-\u00adprivate partnership to build a new medical facility, with $50 million in state bonds, next door to the new hospital planned by Queen\u2019s in Kailua-Kona.<\/p>\n
The Hawaii Health Systems Corp. and Queen\u2019s have signed a memorandum of understanding
\nto jointly develop the 50,000-square-foot
\noutpatient care center.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be transformative,\u201d said Green at a press conference Wednesday. \u201cIt will bring so much more health care to the Big Island, that people will immediately see a change in their lives. The West Side (of the Big Island) is one of the fastest growing parts of our state\u2026and it\u2019s been underserved for far too long.\u201d<\/p>\n
He called it a \u201cgame changer,\u201d as attracting physicians and nurses to stay in the rural area long-term has been a challenge, particularly with many of the facilities being older.<\/p>\n
It will also shorten wait times for patients, he said, and lead to the creation of hundreds of health care jobs on the island.<\/p>\n
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Under the MOU, Queen\u2019s will donate three to five acres out of 30 acres it owns to HHSC\u2019s West Hawaii Region as the future site of the outpatient center next to the new hospital it is building.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new Outpatient Care Center will provide a seamless transition between inpatient and outpatient care, while creating a one-stop hub for primary and specialty care services that will reduce wait and travel times for patients,\u201d said Jason Chang, Queen\u2019s president and CEO in a news release. \u201cWe are pleased to enter into this partnership with the state to deliver the care this community needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The outpatient facility \u2014 basically a hospital that treats patients not requiring an overnight stay \u2014 will offer clinical services such as diagnostic lab tests and routine checkups, along with doctors\u2019 offices.<\/p>\n
But if there is an emergency, Queen\u2019s will be next door.<\/p>\n
Queen\u2019s, which runs the North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea, last December announced plans
\nto build a modern, 80-bed hospital in Kona with a state-of-the-art emergency department, ambulatory care center, and helipad to help with interisland patient transfers.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Queen\u2019s is developing housing at the site, and exploring an
\naffordable housing program that would offer employees the opportunity to purchase homes at below-\u00admarket rates.<\/p>\n
Chang said the campus is intended to be a \u201cone-stop hub\u201d and that the partnership allows physicians and specialists from two different medical groups to work synergistically.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a long time, our region has struggled with many different challenges, like physician shortages and limited access to care,\u201d said Clayton McGhan, CEO of the HHSC West Hawaii Region. \u201cBy teaming up with The Queen\u2019s Health System and the state of Hawaii, we finally have a coordinated, sustainable way to tackle these issues together.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cAnd the good news is it\u2019s already working. Patients are feeling the impact right now. Queen\u2019s surgeons have started rotating at Kona Community Hospital, giving people access to services they used to travel across the island or even off island for. This is exactly the kind of care our communities deserves close to home.\u201d<\/p>\n
HHSC is asking for an initial $50 million in state funding for the planning, design, and site work for the new outpatient center, with additional funding requests to complete it.<\/p>\n
Green said the state is also expecting to receive $200 million per year for five years in federal grants to improve rural health care in Hawaii.<\/p>\n
He also shared that
\n$16.5 million has been added to the upcoming fiscal year\u2019s state budget to cover the loss of enhanced federal tax credits for residents covered by the
\nAffordable Care Act.<\/p>\n
Approximately 24,000 Hawaii residents are enrolled in the ACA health care exchange, also known as Obamacare. Green said an estimated 8,000 people were poised to lose health insurance due to the tax credits expiring on Dec. 31.<\/p>\n
Green said given the efforts put in to expand infrastructure in Kona, this was the right time to invest in this new outpatient care center.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a physician from the Big Island,\u201d said Green, \u201cthis has got to be one of the happiest moments I\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The state is joining forces with The Queen\u2019s Medical Center to fill a gap in health care on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[32375,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-60566","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-editors","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-queens","13":"tag-queens-headlines","14":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}