Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Thursday, August 21, 1997

Queen's plans to open
'health mall' on Maui

Queen's Health Systems plans to open a medical services complex on Maui.

Queen's executives said yesterday that the "health mall" will include a diagnostic laboratory, imaging facility, surgery center and pharmacy. Queen's is entering into the joint venture with Birmingham, Ala.-based HealthSouth Corp., which specializes in rehabilitation and outpatient surgical centers.

The complex will make it easier for patients to handle most of their medical needs in one place, and will give Maui doctors a full complement of services in one location, said Richard Griffith, Queen's president.

One site being considered for the complex is the new Maui Lani residential project district between Wailuku and Kahului. The complex is expected to open in early 1999.

30-year mortgages
drop to 7.46 percent

WASHINGTON -- Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.46 percent this week, down from 7.54 percent last week, according to a national survey released today by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Association.

It was the lowest since Aug. 7, when rates also averaged 7.46 percent. Rates had dipped to 7.36 percent a week earlier after rising to 8.18 percent in early April.

On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.56 percent, unchanged from last week. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for those refinancing mortgages, averaged 6.99 percent this week, down from 7.07 percent a week earlier. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.