Kalaupapa patients and staff temporarily relocated due to unreliable drinking water supply

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health is temporarily relocating patients and staff from Kalaupapa due to an unreliable drinking water supply.

A key pump serving the settlement’s drinking water system has experienced ongoing operational issues since the problem was identified Sept. 3 and multiple repair attempts have been unsuccessful. Repairs are estimated to take approximately two weeks. With the drinking water storage tanks now depleted to a level that cannot reliably support the settlement, DOH is taking precautionary steps to temporarily relocate patients and staff while repairs are completed and the water supply is restored.

Patients and nursing staff are being relocated from Kalaupapa today. Patients will be temporarily housed at the Department’s Care Home on Oʻahu, while staff will stay at hotels and with family and friends. Other staff will leave Kalaupapa later today or tomorrow.

National Park Service personnel are also temporarily leaving the settlement, except for staff who are working to repair the water system.

“This is a precautionary measure to protect the health and safety of our patients and staff while the drinking water system is repaired,” said Dr. Diana Felton, chief of the DOH Communicable Disease and Public Health Nursing Division. “We know that changes to care and living arrangements can be disruptive, and our priority is to ensure patients and staff have a safe and stable place to stay until an adequate and reliable drinking water supply has been restored.”

DOH will continue to coordinate with partners on the status of the water system and repairs. Patients and staff will return to Kalaupapa once an adequate and reliable drinking water supply has been restored.

Kalaupapa is home to patients who receive services through the Hawaiʻi Department of Health’s Hansen’s Disease Program. DOH provides medical, nursing and other support services to patients living in the settlement.