Maui shifts mentally ill
teens to Oahu
WAILUKU » The only neighbor island hospital facility treating adolescents with severe mental health problems will shut down temporarily June 1 because of the departure of two psychiatrists, according to officials at Maui Memorial Medical Center.
Maui Memorial will transfer adolescent mental health clients on the Valley Isle to Oahu facilities, hospital spokeswoman Carol Clark said.
Clark said the two psychiatrists said they were moving for personal reasons unrelated to conditions at the hospital.
Clark said Maui Memorial has created an interim plan involving Oahu facilities to meet the needs of acute adolescent mental health clients.
The adolescent behavioral health unit at Maui Memorial averages an occupancy of two patients a day, she said.
Clark said Maui Memorial officials will meet June 15 with mental health care providers and parents of the adolescents to discuss the shutdown.