Officials on two islands waiting for word A pair of four-inch-thick applications have been submitted to state officials making the case for the merger of Wilcox Health System on Kaua’i with Oahu’s Straub Clinic and Hospital and Kapi’olani Health. If
Officials on two islands waiting for word
A pair of four-inch-thick applications have been submitted to state officials making the case for the merger of Wilcox Health System on Kaua’i with Oahu’s Straub Clinic and Hospital and Kapi’olani Health.
If approved by the State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA), an agency of the state Department of Health, the three entities intending to become Hawai’i Pacific Health would make up the largest healthcare provider in the state.
Though the healthcare agencies haven’t received word from SHPDA that the certificate of need applications are officially accepted, a Kapi’olani spokesman said public hearings on the requests could still be scheduled as early as next month.
“I’m pretty confident that SHPDA has gotten everything they asked for in the applications, so that would still put us on track for hearings in August,” said Dave Heywood, vice presidentn of corporate development. He has been formulating many of the merger documents for the three healthcare organizations.
The decision to make two separate applications – one to merge Straub with Kapi’olani, and the other merging Kapi’olani with Wilcox – was made at the suggestion of SHPDA, he said.
“The applications themselves are very similar” and spell out the benefits of the merger, he said, including abilities to purchase pharmaceutical, medical and surgical supplies in larger volumes at greater discounts, resulting in financial savings.
A number of services currently outsourced, such as legal, consulting, financial services and other tasks, may be able to be done within the combined organizations, Heywood added.
Sharing of administrative expertise, information systems, personnel and recruiting chores, and other duties and responsibilities should make the combined organizations more efficient, he said.
Where benefits to Kaua’i patients could be realized, Heywood said, the healthcare corporations are considering having Straub and Kapi’olani specialists conduct periodic clinics on Kaua’i.
Straub was recently recognized as having one of the nation’s best overall hospitals and best in the state, and for being among the top 100 cardiovascular hospitals in the nation, by two independent healthcare rating services.
Kapi’olani is known across the state for its specialists and programs focusing on women’s and children’s health.
While there could come a day when a Straub or Kapi’olani doctor could come to Kaua’i to offer services, that won’t happen immediately if a merger is approved by the state, Heywood said.
“Our intent is not to either increase or decrease the scope of services on day one, and I think with clinical services and physicians, it’s going to take time to have that evolve and get that working. But that is something we would like to see,” Heywood said. “I think it’s something that could be very positive.”
Once approved by SHPDA, the applications would become public documents available for public inspection. Public hearings would be scheduled for Kaua’i and O’ahu.
Heywood said the healthcare organizations still have lots of work before the merger is completed.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
