Hale Makua celebrates its 80-Year history while charting the path for Maui’s future

Hale Makua Health Services, a nonprofit providing a variety of healthcare services on Maui, celebrated its 80th anniversary this past week. Born out of community compassion during World War II, Hale Makua was established on Sept. 20, 1946 after local volunteers and the Young Buddhist Association rallied to build a dedicated home for displaced kūpuna on Maui needing care.

Throughout the years, Hale Makua continued to meet the changing needs of the community.

• In 1968, Hale Makua opened its Wailuku facility and pioneered home health services on Maui.
• In 1978, it addressed the demand for more nursing home beds with the opening of its Kahului facility.
• Hale Makua started its Adult Day Health services in 1987 to provide support for working families who were caring for elderly parents and grandparents.
• In 2013, Care Homes by Hale Makua opened for elderly individuals requiring minimal daily assistance that still wanted a sense of independence in a home-like environment.
• In 2023, Hale Makua also helped launch Kālele Care Services which provides post-discharge care management, ensuring patients receive the support and resources needed to thrive at home.  

Beyond the services that Hale Makua provides, it is the connection between its residents and caregivers that make Hale Makua truly special. For its 80-year celebration, employees, residents and families came together each day from Sept. 14-18 to honor not only the organization’s history, but the people who have made that history possible.

Highlights from the week’s festivities included a retro dress-up day, Hale Makua history trivia, an 80-foot spam musubi build and eating contest, a Disney parade through resident neighborhoods, and a closing hula performance by Hālau O Ka Hanu Lehua. 

Another special moment during its celebration was a visit from former Hale Makua CEO, Tony Krieg, who returned to both Kahului and Wailuku to share stories and memories from Hale Makua’s past. While Tony Krieg shared about Hale Makua’s past, Hale Makua’s current CEO, Wesley Lo, continues to share about Hale Makua’s future.  

The nonprofit’s upcoming projects continue the same spirit of caring for the community with two initiatives that were born out of conversations with local Maui residents and shaped by the island’s evolving needs.  

Hale Makua’s CarePlex project is envisioned as a comprehensive health care complex that will include a 56-bed higher-acuity rehabilitation center operated by Hale Makua, along with an ambulatory surgery center and a physician clinic. The goal is to expand access to healthcare on Maui, address its needs for more long-term care beds, and reduce the need for residents to travel off-island for medical and surgical care. 

Hale Makua also recently announced changes to its upcoming workforce housing project. What was originally planned as a 100-unit rental property next to Kahului Community Center, has now evolved into a 288-unit rental property located in a currently vacant lot adjacent to Kūihelani Highway and Maui Lani Parkway. The rental units are targeted for entry-level health care and education workers, kūpuna, and families displaced by the 2023 Maui wildfires. The workforce housing project aims to support individuals and families starting their careers by pairing accessible rental homes with Hale Makua’s workforce development programs so workers can advance professionally and earn a livable wage on Maui. 

Together, these projects reflect Hale Makua’s belief that caring for the community means looking beyond the walls of its facilities and addressing the healthcare, housing, and workforce needs that affect Maui’s future.  

“In a way Hale Makua has come full circle,” says Wesley Lo, CEO of Hale Makua. “From the volunteers who built its first home to the employees who care for its residents today, and from the community partners and donors who support the organization to the residents and families who have entrusted Hale Makua with their care, Hale Makua’s 80-year history has always belonged to Maui.”