West Maui Hospital Groundbreaking

A groundbreaking for the long-awaited West Maui Hospital was held this morning at the project site, located on Kakaʻalaneo Drive, between the Honoapiʻilani Highway and the Kāʻanapali Coffee Farms community.

The target date for the hospital’s opening is late 2018.

When completed, it will be the first new hospital to be built on Maui since Maui Memorial Medical Center opened in Central Maui in 1952.

Situated on 14.99 acres below the Kāʻanapali Coffee Farms community in Lahaina, the West Maui Hospital and Medical Center campus is designed to be a fully integrated healthcare service provider to meet the basic health and safety needs of the 65,000+ people of who live, work and visit West Maui. The 53,000-square-foot medical campus will encompass a 25-bed Critical-Access Hospital with a 24-hour Emergency Room, three operating rooms, a radiology department, and 24-hour pharmacy and laboratory; a 40-bed Skilled Nursing Facility; a 40-unit Assisted-Living Facility; and two medical office buildings. Long-term plans also call for a Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Facility.

“This project encapsulates our promise to the community to provide a ‘center of excellence’ in acute health care with a 24-hour emergency room for West Maui,” said Brian Hoyle, President of Newport Hospital Corporation, developer of the project. “For residents and visitors, access to immediate critical care in Lahaina could make the difference between life and death – especially for victims of stroke, heart attack, or trauma.”

“The facility will totally change the equation for health care on the west side,” said Lahaina resident Bob Pure. “This new hospital will supplement and enhance the excellent urgent care facilities we already have and bring available health care to a new and higher level.”

“To date, West Maui has not had the medical service commensurate with the growing needs of its residents and visitors, but soon that will change,” said Steve Lovelette, Executive Vice President of Kaanapali Land Management Corp. “Moving forward in this 21st Century, West Maui will be known for this medical campus being created by Newport Hospital Corporation thanks to the foresight of the Kāʻanapali 2020 planning committee, the determination of developer Brian Hoyle, the dedication of the West Maui Hospital Foundation, and the countless people who have played a role in making this facility a reality.”

“I live and work in Central Maui, but have seen long delays in getting people from the West side of the island to Maui Memorial Medical Center,” said Alfred M. Arensdorf, M.D. “I have seen the Maui Memorial’s Emergency Department so crowded at other times that it became obvious that one major hospital could not meet all of our island’s medical needs… I am so pleased that the more than 15 years of community and medical hopes for the development of a small community-based hospital will come to fruition on the West Side.”

According to Hoyle, among the many benefits of this new West Maui Hospital is a quicker response time for trauma patients who are currently transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center on the other side of the island for treatment. “For victims of stroke, heart attack or major trauma having Board-certified physicians stabilizing patients before they are transported to Maui Memorial will save lives,” he said.

Charlie Slaton, Chief Executive Officer of Critical Access HealthCare LLC, confirmed Hoyle’s comments stating that there are close to 1,500 critical-access hospitals in the nation that have saved thousands of lives by being able to treat victims in rural communities immediately.

The project is expected to cost $70 million for on and offsite infrastructure and construction of the Hospital, Nursing and Assisted-Living Facilities.

When completed, more than 150 jobs in West Maui are anticipated to be created by the Hospital, Nursing and Assisted-Living Facilities for doctors, nurses, clinical and support staff. The Hospital will be operated by the non-profit West Maui Hospital Foundation, Inc. and managed by Critical Access Healthcare, LLC. Mission Health Services will manage the Skilled Nursing Facility.

Newport Hospital Corporation provided the initial funding for the West Maui Hospital and Medical Center and purchased the land from Kāʻanapali Land Management Corporation in 2014 Currently, the West Maui Hospital Foundation is raising funds for the greatest need of the West Maui Hospital. To make a donation, visit www.wmhf.org/donate.

For more information on the West Maui Hospital and Medical Center, visit www.WMHandMC.org.

The initial development phase of this medical campus will include a 25-bed Critical-Access Hospital with a 24-hour Emergency Room, a 40-bed Skilled Nursing and Sub Acute Care Facility, and a 40-unit Assisted-Living and Memory Care Facility.

When completed in late 2018, the West Maui Hospital and Medical Center will be the first hospital built in Hawaii in over 20 years, The last hospital to be built was North Hawaii Community Hospital on the Big Island which opened in 1995.

Reverend Alika blesses some of the crew that will be working on the West Maui Hospital and Medical Center project. Mayor and hospital developer (on the right of the Mayor) pictured in the middle. Photo by: Casey Nishikawa

Development team break ground on the new hospital site in West Maui. Pictured left to right: Bryan Esmeralda (Munekiyo Hiraga); Garrett Tokuaka (ATA); Brian Hoyle (Newport Corporation) – hospital developer; Dan Blackburn (F&H Construction); Steve Lovelette (Kāʻanapali Land Management Corp.); Bo McKuin (Goodfellow Bros.); Charlie Slaton (Critical Access Healthcare); Gary Kelso (Mission Health Services) Photo by: Casey Nishikawa

Hospital developer Brian Hoyle, president of Newport Hospital Corporation, addresses event attendees during the groundbreaking ceremony. Photo by: Casey Nishikawa

Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa expressed the County’s excitement over the new hospital project which ushers in a new era of healthcare for West Maui. Photo by: Casey Nishikawa