While Antonio Pangan waits for a new kidney, his life revolves around his dialysis appointments, which last about four hours at a time, three times a week.

In December, when the state’s only organ transplant center closed with the bankruptcy of Hawaii Medical Center, Pangan thought he would have to get on another waiting list at a transplant center on the mainland.

On Saturday, Pangan, 67, attended a ceremony at the Queen’s Medical Center during which Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a law approving $1.8 million in state emergency funds for an organ transplant center at Queen’s and a kidney disease management program.

"I’m glad they have one here because now I don’t have to (go to the mainland). The expense itself is horrendous," said Pangan, adding that the new transplant center gives him a "second chance."

"I can stay here with my family," he said.

"It’s a blessing," said his wife, Gloria.

The state Legislature fast-tracked the bill for emergency funds, and the House and Senate unanimously approved it Friday. It requires Queen’s to provide matching funds for the estimated $3 million in startup costs for the new transplant facility and $300,000 to the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii, which would be matched by private donors to run a chronic kidney disease management program.

"This is a law that we truly feel will save lives," said Rep. Ryan Yamane (D, Waipahu-Mililani), who introduced the bill. He added that he wants to fight kidney disease through education with the National Kidney Foundation. "It’s not just transplants."

Whitney Limm, a kidney transplant surgeon at Queen’s, said the first operation under the new program will be within the month for a lifesaving liver transplant.

Queen’s has received approval to do liver transplants from the United Network of Organ Sharing and is awaiting approval for kidney, pancreas and heart transplants.

When St. Francis hospitals, the predecessor to Hawaii Medical Center, established the organ transplant program more than 40 years ago, it was a pioneering treatment, said Art Ushijima, president of Queen’s.

"Through the organ transplant program, thousands of lives have been saved," he said. "We will continue this tradition."

Queen’s estimates the facility will lose $7 million to $8 million in the first five years. But Ushijima said it was important to keep the surgeons and support staff from the previous transplant center in Hawaii. The hospital hired 16 employees to support the Queen’s Transplant Center, which will be one of 250 in the country.

Gloria Pangan, whose husband is awaiting a kidney transplant, said without a transplant center in Hawaii, patients faced the possibility of going to the mainland only to find that they weren’t a good match for the organs.

"Especially for the people who are really sick, just to fly over there, they might not make it," she said. "For the people who are really sick … it’s a godsend."