Maui’s Private Hospital System Is In Need Of More State Aid. Here’s Why … The hospital group is expected to request a state subsidy increase for the first time since Kaiser took over five years ago, CEO Mike Rembis says.
Not long ago Maui’s only acute care hospital was bleeding red ink.
In 2014, Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku, along with its affiliate community hospitals in Kula and on Lanai, were operating at an annual loss of $43 million.
For years the state-run hospital group had budget shortfalls. At the same time, the hospitals faced worrisome staffing shortages and public concern over the prevalence of trauma patients being airlifted to Honolulu.
The combination of struggles could have been the death knell for Maui’s hospital system. Instead, the crisis shocked the state into a sharp change in direction.
State lawmakers passed legislation in 2016 that paved the way for Kaiser Permanente to take control of operations at Maui County’s three financially troubled government-owned hospitals — the largest privatization of public facilities in state history.
“I’m convinced if Kaiser hadn’t come in we probably wouldn’t have a hospital on Maui anymore,” said Maui Sen. Rosalyn Baker, who advocated for the transition.
