West Oahu to get hospital it needs

With the population of West Oahu growing rapidly, the closing last December of Hawaii Medical Center West bordered on a medical emergency — literally so, given that the nearest emergency room is in Aiea. Now area residents can breathe a sign of relief, as the parent company of the Queen’s Medical Center has stepped in to acquire and reopen the shuttered hospital by next fall.

If Queen’s can solve the problems HMC was unable to — particularly the high number of patients who can’t afford their treatment they need — its new campus will be a lifesaver for West Oahu.

HMC had filed for bankruptcy twice, in August 2008 and June 2011, and began closing its hospital facilities in Liliha and Ewa, which employed 990 workers, last December. Liliha remains closed, and St. Francis Healthcare System has plans eventually to turn it into a long-term care and rehabilitation facility. There can be little doubt that such a facility will be needed, as Hawaii’s population gets older and the lack of affordable nursing-home care becomes more pronounced.

The Ewa facility has been more critical, since it was the only emergency care hospital in the area. Jerry Correa, St. Francis president and chief executive officer, recognized "the vital need to reopen the Ewa hospital with an emergency department for West Oahu residents and our agreement represents a major step forward in that direction." Its closing had forced ambulances to drive emergency patients from West Oahu to Pali Momi Medical Center in Aiea, the closest acute-care facility.

Queen’s Health Systems has agreed to purchase and renovate the HMC-West facility in Ewa for $73.2 million and plans to rebuild the hospital into a superior acute-care facility. That includes $21.2 million for the hospital and the land and $52 million for renovations and equipment. It is Queen’s first major acquisition since it purchased Molokai General Hospital in 1987.

"Over the coming months," Queen’s President Art Ushijima said in a prepared statement, "Queen’s will be committed to creating a campus that the people of West Oahu can be proud of. Our goal is to build an active and vibrant Queen’s presence in West Oahu to serve this large and growing community."

The agreement followed decades of financial problems at the Ewa and Liliha hospitals, caused by a decline in government reimbursements and rising medical costs. The burden of caring for a high population of uninsured and underinsured patients proved too much for HMC, and patient numbers dwindled last year to about 70 patients in the 102-bed facility. Queen’s expects to provide $50 million annually in charity care.

Nonetheless, the financial picture should change as the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act takes full effect, greatly expanding the number of residents covered by insurance.

Under ownership of the 4,500-employee Queen’s Health Systems, Hawaii’s oldest and preeminent family of health care-related companies, a revamped hospital in West Oahu has a real shot at a secure future. That should make West Oahu residents feel better.