Straub Clinic & Hospital's Westridge and Manoa satellite clinics will be closed early next month. Straub closing two clinics
Jon Grimes, Straub chief executive officer said the closures reflected Straub's "continuing efforts to provide cost-efficient, accessible care with declining economic and reimbursement challenges for all providers."
Most services at the Westridge Clinic, 98-150 Koonohi St., Aiea, will be moved to Straub's larger Pali Momi Clinic, three blocks away at 98-1089 Moanalua Rd. Hours at that clinic will be extended to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The clinic's mammography and occupational services will go to Straub's King Street and Mililani clinics.
Patients using the Manoa Clinic will be able to get services from Kapahulu, Hawaii Kai and King Street clinics.
Michelle Jerin Shirai, Straub spokesman, said she couldn't provide any details on the closures or the number of patients and staff affected.
Grimes said Straub has more clinic sites than any other Oahu provider and "these consolidations allow us to enhance services and programs."
Millennium Moments
IT was conceived during a time of infancy for Hawaii tourism -- the 1920s -- and would grow as the industry did. Pink palace
The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki was one of three hotels intended to accommodate the growing number of vacationers from the mainland after World War I. The other two had been built some 25 years earlier: the Moana, Waikiki's first major hotel built in 1901, and the Alexander Young Hotel in downtown Honolulu.
The Royal's guest list through the years has included Jack Benny, Henry Ford II, Mary Pickford, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Shirley Temple.
The hotel also had a role during WWII: It was used as a recreational facility for the U.S. Navy, where officers were charged $1 a day and enlisted men stayed free.
New law lets proxies handle death decisions
A new law that provides for a "surrogate decision maker" to speak on a dying person's behalf about end-of-life care decisions went into effect yesterday.The bill signed by Gov. Ben Cayetano authorizes a competent person to leave instructions on treatment and appoint a spokesman, but it also provides for a proxy to make decisions when the dying person gave no instructions.
Opponents of the bill called it a step toward legalizing euthanasia.
The law provides safeguards such as requiring surrogate decision makers to consider the individual's religious beliefs and prohibiting them from considering a person's mental or physical disability or financial status in deciding on continuing life-sustaining measures.
Seeds of rare plant to be distributed free
LIHUE -- More than 100,000 seeds of a rare native plant have been shipped to Honolulu for distribution to anyone who wants to plant them in their gardens.It is the third such gift to the public made by Keith Robinson, a member of the Gay & Robinson sugar family who maintains a preserve near Kokee.
Last Christmas, Robinson made more than a million seeds from a variety of endangered native plants available to the public. Robinson hopes to increase their chances of survival by offering them to home gardens.
The seeds shipped to the Honolulu Board of Water Supply -- which has distributed Robinson's donations in the past -- are from delissea rhytidosperma, a small palm-like plant with green and pink flowers. Robinson said only 19 of the plants are known to exist in the wild.
The seeds should be available from the Board of Water Supply in about two weeks, he said.
Corrections
Intentionally or knowingly killing a person is required to prove second-degree murder. The elements needed for proof were incorrectly listed in yesterday's article about prosecutors not pursuing a murder charge against a Waianae Intermediate student who accidentally hit a cafeteria supervisor who later died.
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Police, Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffWaialua man charged in assault on girl, 15
Police yesterday charged a Waialua man with first-degree sexual assault stemming from an alleged attack on a 15-year-old girl.Jon Sanford Dalumpinis, 37, is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Visitor from Japan charged in thefts
A visitor from Japan was arrested yesterday in Waikiki for allegedly stealing four Gucci watches and Rayban sunglasses, valued at more than $2,000, from the Duty Free Shop on Royal Hawaiian Avenue.The man, 26, was booked for second-degree robbery.
He was carrying enough cash to pay for the items but left the store without paying and was stopped by security officers at 6:30 p.m., police said.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
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