Castle may close center to
work out new contract

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By Erika Engle
eengle@starbulletin.com

Castle Medical Center may temporarily close its day treatment facility in Waimanalo if a new service contract cannot be reached, according to a notice filed this week with the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

The closure, scheduled for about the end of January, would leave five people unemployed: a full-time manager, two full-time therapeutic aides and two teachers, one full-time, one part-time.

"The closing is believed to be temporary," according to the notice filed by Castle. "We are hopeful that a new contract to continue services can be finalized before the closing date."

The Waimanalo facility houses a program for at-risk young women with behavioral problems, said Judith Correa, Castle's director of quality resources, behavioral health services and risk management. She described the center as "an alternative school and hospital program that works with the young women and returns them to their home schools."

Castle is negotiating a services contract with the state Department of Education, which has jurisdiction over special education programs. Castle's previous contract had been with the Health Department.

"We are in serious discussion with the Department of Education," Correa said.

A notice was filed with the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations in order to comply with the law, due to the expiration of the previous contract, she said. The new contract may result in changes to the current program.

"We will know more in about a week, and then we'll be better able to describe what the (new) program will be," Correa said.