Hearing on plan for HMC is today

A hearing to confirm a reorganization plan for the Hawaii Medical Center was delayed until today.

Lawyers with HMC and St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii, the center's largest creditor, said they need more time to agree on a reorganization plan for the hospitals. HMC filed for bankruptcy in 2008. In April, HMC filed a joint reorganization plan that would turn the company into a nonprofit. St. Francis, the hospitals' former owner, presented its own plan, including regaining ownership of the Hawaii Medical Center. St. Francis is owed about $46 million in loans. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Faris initially had three plans to consider, but unsecured creditors joined with HMC's current owner, CHA Hawaii.

Kiewit-Mortenson shares military deal

Local contractor Kiewit-Mortenson Joint Venture is one of seven companies selected for military buildup on Guam.

Kiewit-Mortenson and six other companies were chosen by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific to compete for seven contracts, which cost $4 billion total. The contracts will last for a year and have four one-year option periods.

The projects will include buildup of dormitories, administration offices and communications, education, medical, dining, retail, operational, recreational and industrial facilities. Pennsylvania-based Michael Baker Jr. Inc., an engineering unit of Michael Baker Corp., is the lead architectural and engineering firm on the Kiewit-Mortenson team for buildings, airport and airfield projects.

Canadian firm to offer isle insurance

Canadian-based Sun Life Financial Inc. will be offering disability insurance in Hawaii, the company announced yesterday.

Temporary disability insurance must be offered in Hawaii by employers who have two or more qualifying employees. Sun Life's protection offers disability or sick-leave benefits to workers unable to work because of off-job sickness or injury.

Sun Life Financial is a financial services organization. The company's employee benefits group division will administer the temporary disability insurance.

HVCB promoting Hawaii in D.C.

The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and Hawai'i Convention Center are in Washington, D.C., this week to promote the state as a venue for business meetings.

Local officials are attending the 2010 Springtime Expo, which begins Thursday. It is an industrywide, one-day trade show for meeting planners in the Washington, D.C., area, with more than 3,500 national and international associations. HVCB and convention officials are also treating prospective and current clients to its Hawaii East Coast Springtime Reception pau hana event.

Kai Medical lands Army grant

Kai Medical, a local developer of wireless vital signs monitoring devices, has won a $100,000 Army contract to develop a wireless sleep monitor.

The proposed device would provide sleep quality data that can be used to identify at-risk subjects and monitor changes. Soldiers who return from war zones suffer sleep disturbances, and the product would be used for early intervention and treatment.

Kai Medical, led by Chief Executive Officer Dustin Shindo, will base the product off the company's existing device, the Kai Spot, which monitors respiration wirelessly.

Thrifts post $1.82 billion profit

WASHINGTON » U.S. thrifts posted a first-quarter profit in the latest sign the industry is stabilizing as the economy recovers, the government reported yesterday. The federal Office of Thrift Supervision said savings and loans had net income of $1.82 billion in the January-March period. That compared with a net loss of $1.62 billion a year earlier.

ON THE MOVE

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Waikiki has named Diana Su as public relations manager. She was development coordinator and events manager at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society-All America Chapter.

» Molly Mosher-Cates has been elected to the board of directors of the CCIM Institute, a leading commercial real estate association and governing body of one of the largest commercial real estate networks in the world.

Meeting Professionals International Aloha Chapter has honored Roy Tokujo for demonstrating leadership in Hawaii's meeting and events industry. He is the co-creator of “;'Ulalena,”; a Hawaiian theatrical production.

The 2010 Excellence in Safety Award was presented to Kiewit Building Group, a national leader in general construction and engineering, at the Governor's Pacific Rim Safety and Health Conference earlier this month. Kiewit also won this award in 2008.

Hawaii Theatre Center has elected new members to its board of directors: Norb Buelsing, president of A&P Properties; Steve Colon, Hunt Development Group, Hawaii Division; and Clark B. Morgan, president and chief executive officer of Alakai Mechanical Corp.