Medical Mecca Proponents of a plan to create a major health, sports medicine and biomedical research park on a 210-acre site in Waipio are hoping to convince Oahu's other health entities and the University of Hawaii to join them in creating a "medical mecca."
May be a tough sell
By Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.comThe plan to build the "Pacific Health Community" is being put forward by the Wahiawa Hospital Association and its affiliate company, Pacific Health Community Inc. The organization recently signed an acquisition agreement with Castle & Cooke for the land.
The cost will be approximately $50,000 per acre, said Rodney Sato, chairman of Pacific Health Community Inc. The sale of the first 80 acres is expected to take place in Dec. 2001, he said.
Supporters of the plan, which includes building a new hospital and locating the future medical school on the site, unveiled the details last week in a presentation entitled "Health Care Industry Opportunities in Hawaii."
The concept was presented by Benjamin Rook, managing principal of Odell Associates and an architect and nationally known hospital designer brought in by the group to talk about similar ventures he has participated in on the mainland.
Rook said the key to attracting biomedical and pharmaceutical research firms to Hawaii -- something the state has been trying to do -- is to create on-site partnerships between those companies, the university and existing health care entities in the community. Rook cited successful examples of such partnerships like the Triangle Park Research Corp. in North Carolina and its affiliation with area universities and medical centers.
"(Biotech companies) like to affiliate with a school of medicine and a conglomerate of hospitals, not just one."
Around $50 million would also be needed from the state to get started on the medical school and research components, he said.
Rook envisions biomedical research facilities, together with a school of medicine, a new hospital and a medical mall, a sports medicine complex as well as health care units set up by some of Hawaii's existing hospitals.
But whether Oahu's health care providers have any interest in joining the pilgrimage to Waipio is unclear.
The plan to include other hospitals in the venture came as news to three of Oahu's hospitals specifically mentioned in Thursday's presentation.
Representatives from St. Francis, Kapiolani Health and Queens Health Systems were surprised to hear their names mentioned in the proposal.
"We have not been approached yet," said Raleigh Awaya, chief business officer for St. Francis.
"It was the first time I head about," said Gail Tiwanak, vice president for organizational planning and communications at Queen's Medical Center.
"I was surprised to see us included in their plans," she said.
Likewise, a Kapiolani representative expressed surprise.
"We haven't had any contact with them," said Pat Oda, Kapiolani's director of communications.
Whether Oahu hospitals, beset and pre-occupied by a host of financial challenges, due in part to declining insurance reimbursements, could be induced to participate in such a venture remains to be seen.
Kapiolani Health, hoping to further reduce its costs, is in the midst of putting together its own partnerships with Kauai's Wilcox Health System and Straub Clinic and Hospital. Likewise, St. Francis Health System, now undertaking a cost cutting re-organization, recently terminated a number of its services and laid off some employees.The state's largest medical provider, Queen's Health System, announced last year it planned to focus energies on core medical activities in the future rather than seek new ventures.
But Rook sees joining such a partnership as the wave of the future and an investment for the providers.
A strong partnership is way to leverage Hawaii's health care assets to attract the maximum amount of capital from the federal government, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, he said
"Health care today is an economic development tool, not just a provider of services."
Another key component to the future success of the plan is a commitment from the University of Hawaii to locate its planned medical school in Waipio.
New UH president Evan Dobelle said he is considering at least four possible sites, Kakaako, Tripler Army Medical Center, West Oahu and Waipio.
The location has some merit because of Oahu's predicted population shift in that direction, said the medical school's Dean Edwin Cadman.
Gaining the support of local physicians will also be critical.
But support from physicians, most of whom live and practice close to downtown Honolulu, is by no means certain, he said.
"The criticism from some physicians is that it's too far away. We also have MDs tutoring our students in problem-based learning who come on campus," he said.
Cadman, who will be involved in the eventual decision about where to locate the medical school, said its likely the university will make up its mind by Oct. 1.
Some in the health care community also question the wisdom of adding to the health care system when the number of available acute care hospital beds on Oahu has been steadily growing since the early 1980s.
The most recent figures available from State Health Planning and Development Agency show that in 1999, Oahu hospitals had a 63 percent occupancy rate in their acute care beds. In 1982, that number was 79.1 percent.
Concerns also were raised among providers that before any money is spent on creating new health care facilities, other problems, such as planning for the future needs of the state's rapidly aging population and addressing the issue of the rising number of uninsured, should be tackled.
"Technology is all well and good, but we need to figure out ways to translate that into community services," said Beth Giesting, director of the Hawaii State Primary Care Association. The group's 10 clinics provided care to more than 72,000 people of limited means last year.
Of those seeking services, 36 percent were uninsured, Giesting said. Moreover, the number is rising.
Between 1997 and 2000, Giesting said the number of people without insurance who were seen at the clinics grew by 60 percent.
"It's great to develop things that might be lucrative but I really think we need to take care of the basics first," she said.
Still, proponents of the medical complex are pressing ahead with their plans.
Legislative representative Marcus Oshiro, D-Wahiawa-Whitmore, obtained $147 million in special purpose revenue funds for the project during 1999 legislative session.
The next step for the Wahiawa Hospital Association will be to go before the Land Use Commission in September to get a zoning change approval before beginning construction of the medical complex.
The first phase, a 73,000 square-foot sports medicine center and research complex, is expected to break ground in 2002, said Pacific Health's Rodney Sato.
A further seven phases including a medical office building, diagnostic treatment center a 50-bed inpatient facility medical education and research centers will follow. A medical mall, senior care facility and a hospice would complete the first 80 acres of the project.
Sato said the group has been talking to various parties, particularly building trades unions such as the Carpenters Union and the AFL-CIO about securing funding for the overall project.