Molokai hospital
set to growA construction project will add
specialty care services for patients
KAUNAKAKAI, Molokai >> Molokai General Hospital is scheduled to begin a $7.5 million construction project that will help some patients reduce the need for off-island travel to receive cancer examinations and lifesaving treatments.
CORRECTION
Saturday, March 13, 2003>> Queen's Health Systems contributed $3 million toward a $7.5 million construction project at Molokai General Hospital. A Page A5 article yesterday incorrectly reported that the donor was the Queen Emma Foundation.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday at the hospital in Kaunakakai.
The project will enable the addition of specialty care ervices, such as chemotherapy treatment and examinations for colon cancer.
"It will be just wonderful for us to provide the treatment on island," said Janice Kalanihuia, the hospital's chief administrator.
Kalanihuia said some residents forgo chemotherapy treatment because they do not have the money to travel from Molokai to an off-island hospital. Others become sick and have difficulty traveling to another island for the examinations and treatments.
The hospital, owned by the Queen's Health Systems, has two internal medicine physicians and an emergency room physician.
Queen's spokeswoman Nancy Usui said the project is expected to improve the hospital's efficiency.
She said no increase in staff is anticipated.
The first phase, expected to be completed by April 2005, includes the addition of 11,193 square feet of space for "Patient Care Services."
The second phase, scheduled to be completed in April 2006, will renovate 22,000 square feet of the existing building.
The Queen Emma Foundation and the federal government are contributing $3 million each to the project.
The state is providing $1 million, and Maui County, $500,000.
