WAIMEA — Folks who live on Kaua’i’s Westside don’t take their state-subsidized hospital for granted. Its low patient census (averaging less than 30 patients a day) and chronic operating losses put it at risk for survival year after year. Though
WAIMEA — Folks who live on Kaua’i’s Westside don’t take their state-subsidized
hospital for granted. Its low patient census (averaging less than 30 patients a
day) and chronic operating losses put it at risk for survival year after
year.
Though anything could happen when the Legislature goes back into
session, most people are optimistic about the future of Kaua’i Veterans
Memorial Hospital.
The West Kaua’i Community Development Corporation, a
hospital auxiliary group and concerned citizens have formed a corporation to
raise money to keep the West Kaua’i hospital open.
A New Year’s event has
been planned at the Waimea Plantation Cottages to raise funds, said Bill Peay,
a spokesman for the West Kaua’i community and business group.
KVMH and
Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital in Kapa’a are managed by the Hawai’i Health
Systems Corporation, a quasi-public company formed by the state Legislature to
operate Hawaii’s 12 state hospitals.
Both KVMH and Mahelona reported
operating losses again this year—KVMH lost $4 million and Mahelona, $2
million.
In total, HHSC’s 12 taxpayer-supported hospitals suffered $30
million in losses this year — $13 million in operating costs, $12 million or
retroactive pay increases and $5 million to prepare computers systems for the
year 2,000.
In 1997, KVMH registered $5.3 million in loses compared with $4
million for this year, according to HHSC President and Chief Executive Thomas
Driskill Jr.
For the same period Samuel Mahelona Hospital’s losses dropped
from $2.7 to $2 million, he said.
“They are doing a very good job of
running the hospital system,” said Kaua’i Sen. Jonathan Chun.
“The state
was losing a heck of a lot more money when it ran the system. The corporation
has bought down the deficit (statewide) by at least half.”
But Driskill
will go back to the Legislature next spring for more money to cover HHSC’s cash
deficit, and the corporation is expected to ask legislators for permission to
close some money-losing long-term care facilities and other nonprofitable
services.
Chun says there is no talk among legislators of closing either of
Kaua’i’s hospitals.
Kaua’i County Councilman Randal Valenciano, who lives
on the Westside, said the hospital is a vital part of the community and should
remain open.
“We went through this two years ago (when there was talk of
closing the facility due to operating losses),” he said. “It should remain open
for the good of the community.”
Kaua’i Sen. Jonathan Chun echoed that
sentiment, noting Mahelona Hospital provides much-needed psychiatric and
long-term bed care.
Driskill said the losses at the Kaua’i hospitals stem
from:
* Collective bargaining obligations. HHSC borrowed $7 million from
the state treasury to cover raises for unionized employees. The money is
supposed to be paid back this month, but Driskill doesn’t think that’s
possible.
* Maintenance of long-term care facilities.
* Maintenance
of a psychiatric ward at Mahelona Hospital at a cost of $1 million a year. The
facility serves an average of two persons a day, but it needs to remain open
because it is the only facility of its kind on Kaua’i, Driskill said.
HHSC
has proposed or has implemented these measures to try to further reduce the
deficit at the Kaua’i hospitals:
* Secure vendor contracts at the lowest
cost.
* Eliminate the duplication of services between the hospitals and
expand services, including increasing the long-term bed capacity at Mahelona
Hospital.
* Improving dialysis services and obstetrics services at Kaua’i
Veterans Memorial Hospital.
Dialysis services have been offered at the
hospital for the past 18 months.
The obstetrics department reopened in
May. Since then 18 babies have been delivered at the hospital.
* Seeking
federal funding aimed at strengthening the operation of rural hospitals and
payment for medical services.
“We are developing alternatives that will be
presented to the legislative session in January,” Driskill said.
Chun also
said legislators have talked about allowing HHSC to become a private entity
capable of negotiating collective bargaining agreements.
Should that
happen, HHSC would have another way to control its losses, Chun said.
The
state hospitals don’t need to compete with Wilcox Hospital to remain viable,
Peay said.
“The best thing we can do is focus on improving all three of our
hospitals so our residents don’t have to leave the island for health care they
need,” he said.
Residents should hold all the three hospitals accountable
to develop and implement the best medical programs possible, he said.
More
heavily used state hospitals will reduce HHSC’ s dependency on state subsidy
funds to remain in operation, Peay said.
HHSC has asked the Legislature for
subsidies for the last four years, he said, though the amount has dropped each
year since 1996, when HHSC took over the management of the state
hospitals.
In 1997, the corporation received $12 million, compared with
$7.8 million for this year, Driskill said.
