Kahuku Hospital
Since opening its doors in 1928, Kahuku Hospital has risen to the task of providing healthcare to all our North Shore communities. This dramatic jump from a plantation hospital, to a major hospital serving around 27,000 North Shore residents has not been without some growing pains.
November 2006, the board of directors of Kahuku Hospital voted to file for chapter 7 bankruptcy and close the hospital on December 31, 2006. If this closure had taken place, Kahuku would have lost its Hospital License, Certificate of Need, and Critical Access Hospital Designation. The Critical Access Designation is of particular importance because it allows the hospital to receive higher reimbursements amounting to about $1,000,000 in additional revenue annually. This special designation is granted by the federal government and is almost impossible to renew.
Recognizing the grave consequences of a chapter 7 filing, I immediately began working with my colleagues in legislation and the Kahuku Hospital Board of Directors to prevent the closing. At present, Kahuku Hospital is entering into a reorganization under chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code, thus allowing the hospital to remain open. Clearly, a successful reorganization is imperative, and it is my intention to do what it takes to make it happen.
If the reorganization is to be a success, The Board of Directors of Kahuku Hospital will require the following:
- Funds representing the second increment of the $1 million grant previously awarded to Kahuku Hospital be immediately released ($500,000);
- Legislation be introduced authorizing and requiring that Kahuku Hospital be acquired or otherwise become an affiliate of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation; and
- Pending such acquisition, Kahuku Hospital needs, from this legislative session, an emergency appropriation of $950,000 to cover shortfalls for the period of March 1, 2007 to June 30, 2007.
Kahuku Hospital is of vital, importance to our communities on the North Shore. As your representative, it is my unyielding objective to ensure that the appropriate legislation to effectuate this transfer is submitted to enable Kahuku Hospital to continue its indispensable service.

