Gov. David Ige reached into the internal workings of the state Legislature Tuesday to convince House lawmakers to delay a decision that would have positioned Maui’s state-owned hospitals to be transformed into a private nonprofit entity.

Ige said he approached lawmakers to ask that House lawmakers delay a planned final vote on House Bill 1075, which has been strongly opposed by the United Public Workers and the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

Ige said the public workers unions did not ask him to intervene, and said he didn’t discuss the matter with them.

The agreement announced by Ige and House and Senate lawmakers today will allow lawmakers more time to hash out the details of the proposed privatization of the three medical facilities

“The House was prepared to agree to the Senate draft, and I personally had some concerns, and I requested a meeting with the Speaker. We talked about it,” Ige said, declining to elaborate further. “I don’t think we want to get into the explicit details,” he said. 

The Maui region of Hawaii Health Systems Corp. which operates the hospitals has been working with the nonprofit Hawaii Pacific Health for the past six months on an in-depth review of the hospitals to prepare for a possible takeover by Hawaii Pacific.

Hawaii Pacific Health already operates Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, Pali Momi Medical Center, Straub Clinic & Hospital and Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kauai.

The Maui region is facing a $28 million deficit in the upcoming year, including funding proposed by the Legislature. If the bill doesn’t pass, the hospital will be faced with tough choices, said Wesley Lo, regional CEO of Maui Memorial Medical Center. 

“I think that we would be forced to look at significant expense reductions, which could mean layoffs in staff as well as cuts in services,” Lo said. “Maui Memorial is the only acute care hospital on the island of Maui for a very vibrant population, and it’s going to affect the community in many ways.” 

Senate President Donna Mercado Kim and House Speaker Joseph Souki said they welcome the governor’s input.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.