Med school
outgrows new digs

Lack of space at the Kakaako site
means turning away researchers for now

The John A. Burns Medical School's new research building in Kakaako is full, long before its expected September opening.

That's both good and bad news, depending on perspective.

"We have filled the space up that's available there," said Associate Dean Rosanne Harrigan. "We grew more quickly than we thought we would grow," she said.

Limited construction funding translated into a smaller building, with no growing space. "We believed it would hold us. We thought we could make do with it until we had additional space," she said.

And now, a full building means turning researchers and their biotechnology research funds away.

"The clear notion is we need more space to keep on growing," she said. "I don't think people should see this as bad. You can only build what you can afford and if you succeed in growing, you might not fit into it."

"This is a very common problem when you build things and project years out," she said. "By the time you're ready to move into them, you need more space."

Harrigan said the medical school is going to have to be creative in forming state-private partnerships to acquire more space to achieve goals to expand biotechnology.

"The community is going to have to step up and work with us on that," she said.

The University of Hawaii medical school, in a report to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, a national accrediting authority for medical education programs, wrote:

The school delayed opening the research facility because of inadequate operational funding. The Legislature funded the education building -- $3.2 million in the next year and $3.6 million the following year -- to allow faculty grants to operate the research building, Harrigan said.

She said about 100 researchers and 25 to 30 support staff will occupy the new structure.