Health center to expand

Waimanalo Health Center is kicking off a $13 million capital campaign Wednesday to raise money for the organization’s first major expansion since it opened in 1989.

The fundraising campaign, called Ola I ka Wai: Water Is Life, will pay for the construction of a nearly 18,000-square-foot, two-story building next to the Wai­ma­nalo Fire Station on Kalanianaole Highway. The center will move its medical, behavioral health, vision and nutrition services to the new facility. Dental and administrative services will stay at the existing location at 41-1347 Kalanianaole Highway.

"Throughout its history, it has never undertaken an expansion or significant improvement in its facilities," the center said in a statement. "As a result, the facility is inefficiently configured and inadequately sized based on U.S. standards for patient care. In addition, expenses for repair and maintenance of old facilities continue to escalate, which adversely impacts the delivery of much-needed services."

The new building will increase the number of exam rooms and include a new pharmacy. The center started a 65-year lease agreement with the state Jan. 1 for the 1-acre expansion parcel.

The expansion is expected to be completed by summer 2017.

The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation has pledged $2 million, the largest gift the foundation has ever made to a Wai­ma­nalo-based organization.

The center has 84 part-time and full-time employees, including eight physicians.

In 2014, Wai­ma­nalo Health Center reported $5.9 million in revenue and $6.4 million in expenses.

Waimanalo Health Center is expanding to accommodate the growing patient base on Oahu’s Windward side. In 2014 the organization saw 4,511 patients. During the last 10 years it saw an 88 percent increase in patient visits and a 32 percent jump in the number of patients.

The organization is projecting 2,500 new patients within a year of operation at the new facility. Approximately 65 percent of the area’s residents are Native Hawaiian, the second-highest population in the islands, many of whom are at or below the federal poverty level.