StarBulletin.com

Web site attempts to keep care home facts current


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POSTED: Thursday, December 03, 2009

QUESTION: We are looking for a care home in or around Manoa that provides expanded care, but the two facilities you mentioned in your 2002 column are full to capacity. The article also provided a Web site that lists all the care homes in Hawaii, but numerous attempts to connect with that site produced messages stating that the site has either been discontinued or is unavailable. Is there a resource available that provides the names and contact information for these facilities? Any information will be appreciated.

ANSWER: The old link to the state Department of Health's Web site apparently is no longer working.

If you go to the department's Office of Health Care Assurance Web site, you can find listings for Adult Residential Care Homes (ARCH), Assisted Living Facilities in Hawaii, and a Combined ARCH/Expanded ARCH Vacancy Report — by area.

An ARCH accommodates people who require minimal assistance with such activities as bathing, changing, walking, eating and getting out of bed, and has a maximum capacity of five residents.

An ARCH II residence is the same as an ARCH, but can accommodate six or more residents.

An expanded ARCH is described as an adult residential facility licensed to admit people who require 24-hour assistance and/or may require skilled nursing services. These homes can accommodate a maximum of five residents.

An ARCH II-Expanded home is one licensed to accommodate more than six residents.

We clicked on the Combined ARCH/Expanded ARCH Vacancy report and saw 10 care homes in Manoa listed, with contact information.

“;We try to update this (vacancy report) as frequently as possible,”; said Keith Ridley, chief of Health Care Assurance. “;It's based on information provided by the care homes, so it is subject to change quickly in terms of the vacancies.”;

In 2004, there were 415 adult residential care homes licensed throughout the state. In 2008, there were 484, just more than a 16 percent increase over that period, Ridley said.

Waipahu has the most care homes, by far, of all the communities, with 133 listed on the vacancy report registry, followed by Kalihi with 57; Salt Lake, 32; Pearl City, 25; and Kaneohe, 24.

Other neighborhoods with a double-digit number of care homes are Ewa Beach, 18; Aiea and Foster Village, 16; Kailua, 12; and Kaimuki, 10.

For more information, call the Department of Health's State Licensing Section, 692-7400.

QUESTION: Cars in my neighborhood park right up to the end of the curb at the intersection of two streets, making it sometimes impossible for the rubbish truck to turn into the street where I live. If a rubbish truck can't negotiate the turn, neither can a fire truck. What does the law say about how much distance from an intersection cars can park?

ANSWER: Section 15-14.1 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu says cars cannot park “;within an intersection, along the edges or curbsides around corners and in channelized areas of any two intersecting streets.”;

You are advised to call police at 911 to report the violation.

Also, visit www.honolulu.gov/refs/roh/15a10_20.htm.

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Write to “;Kokua Line”; at Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).