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Appeals court temporarily suspends transfer of Maui hospitals

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GARY T. KUBOTA / NOV. 2004

Maui Memorial Medical Center has served as the acute-care hospital on the Valley Isle since the early 1950s.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today temporarily suspended the transfer of the state-run medical system to a private health provider, pending the submission of a status report.

The appeals court wants the status report on or before June 30.

The suspension of the ownership transfer is effective only until Sept. 30, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

State Attorney General Douglas Chin said some judges expressed worries about the impact of the transfer on United Public Workers union employees.

Chin said the state administration and state Legislature have put together solutions to address these worries.

“We will comply with the 9th Circuit’s order and report our progress to them,” Chin said.

The Legislature passed a law in 2015 ending the Hawaii Health Systems Corp.’s delivery of health services to Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital and authorized the health service delivery to be done by a private operator. Kaiser Permanente will be the operator.

8 responses to “Appeals court temporarily suspends transfer of Maui hospitals”

  1. what says:

    Blood sucking unions put their needs above that of the greater good of the public.

  2. Ronin006 says:

    The impact of the transfer on United Public Workers union employees should be immaterial as long as the transfer is legal.

    • klastri says:

      The reason the Court is involved is that there is a question about whether the transfer is being performed lawfully, and that must be reviewed and resolved. That’s what the Court does. WOW!

      • Ronin006 says:

        You may be right, Kalastri, but I did not read in the story that there is a question about whether the transfer is being performed lawfully. The reason given was that some judges expressed worries about the impact of the transfer on United Public Workers union employees. Was the reasoning based on law or compassion?

  3. taradean says:

    Unions rather have Hospital shut down vs managed properly. Criminals.

    • klastri says:

      That’s not true, of course. But it’s easier to write something like this instead of thinking for 30 seconds about the issue at law. Because you are completely ignorant of an issue doesn’t mean that anyone involved is a criminal.

  4. saywhatyouthink says:

    Personally I think all public services except public safety and the court system should be privatized. The public worker unions have corrupted both state and city government in Hawaii with campaign contributions to the democratic party of Hawaii. HSTA almost singlehandedly funded Ige’s campaign for Governor. Ige responded with pay raises and backed off drug testing requirements for teachers. Hawaii has most one sided and corrupt government in the country.

  5. richjsn says:

    The Ninth Circuit is by far the most overturned and overburdened court in the country, with a 77 percent reversal rate. In addition its the largest court in the US and due to its voluminous caseload and disproportionate size, the Ninth Circuit has an abysmal turnaround time of over 15 months for an average ruling. In my opinion it is the unions lawyers that have used this measure as a delay tactic to give them more time to fight the issue. They do not care about anything but sucking more money for themselves out of the system.

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