Second panel votes against Maui hospital plan

A second state advisory panel has delivered a blow to a proposed second hospital on Maui, endorsed by Gov. Linda Lingle and Mayor Alan Arakawa.

Dr. David Sakamoto, head of the State Health Planning and Development Agency, will make the final decision on the application to build Malulani Health and Medical Center.

The leader of the effort to build Malulani, Dr. Ron Kwon, said he was optimistic Sakamoto would approve the hospital's application regardless.

The Statewide Health Coordinating Council said yesterday it was not convinced Maui needed the new facility.

They also expressed doubt the hospital would be able to hire enough doctors and nurses to provide the care it planned to offer.

Malulani, which backers hope to build in Kihei, would compete with the only existing acute-care medical facility on the Valley Isle, the state-subsidized Maui Memorial Medical Center.

The facility's supporters say one out of eight Maui residents currently leaves the island for medical care, showing Malulani is badly needed.

Seven council members voted to disapprove Malulani's application while three abstained.

With yesterday's vote, two state panels have recommended the state not allow Malulani to be built. One panel voted in favor of it: the Tri-isle Subarea Planning Council made up of people from Maui County.

Malulani has some powerful backers. Arakawa has vocally supported the hospital, flying to Honolulu last month to testify on the facility's behalf.

Lingle, who was Maui's mayor for eight years and a Maui County Council member for 10 years, felt so strongly Malulani should be built that she appeared before the council -- only the second time she has gone before a government body since taking office four years ago.