Central Oahu needs a new hospital ASAP at the Koa Ridge site.

The new hospital would be developed within the 28-acre medical complex generously donated by Castle & Cooke. The site has been strategically located by The Wahiawa Hospital Association and Castle & Cooke to serve the residents of Waipahu, Mililani, Wahiawa and the North Shore. Koa Ridge is the right location to address the growing demand for health care and medical services for these communities. However, for a new hospital to be built at the site, the City Council needs to approve Castle & Cooke’s Koa Ridge zoning request, which is scheduled for a final vote Wednesday.

As CEO of Wahiawa General Hospital, I know first-hand that our 60-year-old facility on 3.8 acres in Wahiawa does not have room to grow, or have the necessary infrastructure to support a modern high quality/high technology hospital. The new location would increase the hospital’s service area from about 50,000 people to 150,000, which would increase the hospital’s service area by 300 percent. The Koa Ridge location is optimal for supporting the greater Central Oahu area, including Wahiawa and the North Shore.

Timing for development of a new hospital is important because the community will most likely lose Wahiawa General Hospital if key acute care services are not relocated in the near future.

Our feasibility study indicated the population base of 150,000 people would create demand to support the modern medical center complex, plus room for future growth. The Koa Ridge medical center would offer comprehensive primary and secondary care medical services through development of a 100-plus-bed acute care hospital, 100 to 150 beds for skilled nursing services and ambulatory services such as surgery, diagnostic imaging, laboratory testing, physician offices, future development and other services.

Located between Waipahu and Mililani, the complex would be easily accessible from major transportation corridors, area population centers and to employers. Families that live in Central Oahu and the North Shore would have shorter travel times and easy access to emergency and other health services.

The medical complex would create an estimated 1,100 jobs in Central Oahu, allowing area residents job opportunities closer to home. About 92 percent of Wahiawa General Hospital’s employees live in Central and West Oahu and on the North Shore. We believe future Koa Ridge medical complex employees would follow this trend, which will help alleviate traffic congestion in and out of Honolulu over many decades.

I strongly believe the majority of people in Central Oahu want and deserve a well-planned community like Koa Ridge. It will provide homes for Hawaii families, senior and affordable housing, much-needed construction jobs, improved retail shopping, high-paying medical jobs and increased access to health care.

There have been 18 workshops involving representatives of 47 community organizations and constituencies in Central Oahu to develop the project goals and guiding principles that serve as the foundation for Koa Ridge. This collaborative process has been extremely positive. Koa Ridge and the proposed medical center complex have received excellent support from these groups.

Residents of Central Oahu need to let their City Council members know that Koa Ridge needs to be approved so it can finally start this project after more than 10 years of delays. The children of Hawaii residents need affordable housing before they grow old, seniors need special housing in their later years, and the surrounding communities in general need improved access to quality health care