Dispute delays
air ambulance for Maui
Maui senators planned a last-ditch effort today to resolve a legal dispute that caused the Lingle administration to withhold state matching funds needed to launch Maui County's air ambulance service.
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& Hawaii Revised StatutesSen. Rosalyn Baker, chairwoman of the Senate Health Committee, will ask House conferees working on a related bill to insert language suggested by former Attorney General Margery Bronster to address the state's potential liability, according to her colleagues.
Baker (D, Honokohau-Makena) declined comment.
Attorney General Mark Bennett said yesterday that unless the change eliminates the state's potential liability for not providing air ambulance service statewide, it will not result in the release of the state funds.
Lingle announced in January that $611,500 appropriated last year was being released July 1 to set up the helicopter service with matching county money and an additional $388,500 from the county to pay for the ground crew.
However, Lingle's office warned early this month that the money would not be released until lawmakers amended the state ambulance law to make it clear that the state is not mandated to also provide service in Kauai County, which has no emergency helicopter staffed by a medical team.
The concern is that a victim or the family of someone injured on Kauai might sue the state because the lack of an air ambulance on Kauai resulted in a death or greater injury because of a delay in reaching the hospital.
Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa has called for Lingle, Maui's former mayor, and the Legislature to end the dispute that "affects the life, health and safety of every single person in the county."
