Maui Hospital Explores Public Private Partnership

Maui Memorial Medical Center, courtesy photo.

By Wendy Osher

Officials at the Maui Memorial Medical Center are exploring options for the possible creation of new public-private partnerships on Maui.

The Maui Regional System Board of Directors, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation said the intent is to improve quality and delivery of health care in Maui County.

“Over the past seven years, the current administration of MMMC has been working diligently on new initiatives,” said Clay Sutherland, Chairman of the MRSB.

“Recent improvements include a new Heart Program that provides cardiovascular care and treatment on the island of Maui, the addition of the 75,000 square-foot Representative Bob Nakasone Kahului Tower, new helipad, and an expanded Emergency Department,” he said.

Maui Regional Chief Executive Officer, HHSC, Wesley Lo said, “Despite our successes, we realized that there are numerous challenges facing rural community hospitals on the neighbor islands, including capital shortfalls, budgetary restrictions, declining government and third-party payer subsidies and a lack of scale that affects operations and the inability to keep up with Health Care Reform.”

Lo said Act 182, adopted in 2009, was an important tool that paved the way for officials at the facility to explore innovative ways to improve health care in Maui County.

The act is credited with allowing the Maui facility to establish autonomy from the HHSC through a variety of alternatives.

“As part of this process, we have recently started discussions with Banner Health, one of the largest non-profit hospital systems in the country,” said Sutherland. “Talks are very preliminary at this point. As we continue to gather more information, we will keep the community informed.”

Banner Health is based in Phoenix, Arizona and currently operates 23 acute-care hospitals and health care facilities in seven states.

“As we continue to move forward with ongoing projects and initiatives at MMMC our goals remain the same — to provide high-quality acute care service on Maui. And that’s why we are excited about the possibility of partnering with a quality organization like Banner Health,” said Lo in a statement today.

Maui facilities that are part of the region include the Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital & Clinic and the Lanai Community Hospital.

MMMC is recognized as one of only three acute care hospitals operated by the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation in the state, and is the only full-service acute care hospital on the island of Maui. It is also the only hospital outside of O’ahu that provides a full range of cardiac services, officials noted.

***Supporting information courtesy: Maui Memorial Medical Center.