Lawsuit Dismissed in Advance of Maui Hospital Transition to Kaiser

A lawsuit relating to benefits for employees at the Maui Region hospitals was dismissed on Monday, less than two weeks ahead of the July 1st hospital transition to Kaiser.

Maui Memorial Medical Center. Image credit: Kaiser.

The Employees’ Retirement System, the State of Hawaiʻi, and the Hawaiʻi Health Systems Corporation jointly agreed to dismiss a lawsuit which was filed in August of last year.

The suit sought to block implementation of a new law that provided a choice of either a severance payment or a special retirement benefit for state hospital workers affected by the transfer. The suit was filed because a 2016 law threatened the tax-exempt status of the ERS’ retirement fund, but the law in question was repealed and consequently, the parties agreed to dismiss the case.

Attorney General Doug Chin said that with the end of the lawsuit, there are no further cases related to the transition of the three Maui county hospitals from public to private management and control.

The Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lānaʻi Community Hospital are scheduled to transition to Kaiser management next week Saturday, July 1, 2017.