Those of us who had loved ones at Wahiawa General Hospital’s long-term care facility were not surprised by the announced closing (“Wahiawa General Hospital to close long-term care center, citing financial challenges,” Star-Advertiser, April 24).
The closing is a reflection of poor and inept senior management for many decades. Ultimately, the patients and their families are left to scramble to locate placements.
The hospital previously paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for Medicare fraud and other violations. The hospital board failed to take action to terminate senior management. The state Department of Health, which has oversight over the long-term care facility, turned its head when it came to violations.
I filed a complaint and it took more than 18 months to even acknowledge it. To make matters worse, the Legislature was subsidizing the hospital with millions of taxpayer dollars. The insanity is that the Legislature gave money to support the hospital’s operations, while revenues were used to pay penalties to the federal government.
Wahiawa General Hospital should not have been given CPR with state funds.
Brian Tamamoto
Mililani
Don’t support HTA as tourists pour into isles
Are we nuts?
The Star-Advertiser recently reported that the number of mainland visitors is now higher than before the pandemic, and we’re not even really open to Asian visitors yet (“U.S. visitors to Hawaii in March up near double digits from pre-pandemic times,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, April 28). Too many tourists already! Yet here we are once again throwing vast sums of money at the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) so it can entice still more tourists to Hawaii that the majority of us don’t even want (“Lawmakers keep tourism agency funding alive,” Star- Advertiser, May 2).
The Legislature shouldn’t give one single dollar to HTA. Why is it stuffing the pockets of our failed, recycled politicians?
Those many millions of tax dollars surely can be better spent, starting with renovating public schools (how about including the novel concept of air conditioning and good ventilation) and paying a competitive salary to recruit and retain excellent teachers.
Think about it: Do we want a better future for our keiki, or do we want richer politicians and more tourists?
We really are nuts if we keep feeding the machine that is HTA.
Jill Thach
Kailua
Students question logic of Har’s acquittal
Following up on Jackie L. Grambusch Jr.’s letter regarding state Rep. Sharon Har (“Har should resign from public office,” Star-Advertiser, April 28): I teach two civics classes to graduating seniors at a local high school. I spent an entire class period discussing this case, and asked each student to write an essay about their personal feelings about this case and the ethics of Har’s behavior.
The students questioned the logic of why a public servant and role model, who is a lawyer, would be drinking alcohol while on medication (in a bar) and then proceed to operate a vehicle.
The involvement of a per diem judge and his reasoning for her DUI acquittal led students to believe he rendered an imperfect decision (“favoritism” was an often-used expression). They wait until November for the voters to determine the final judgment of her conduct.
Lee Champion
Waikiki
U.S. must recognize role in atomic bombings
Carl Zimmerman reminded us that the hands of the U.S. are not clean when it comes to war (“World War II bombings killed many civilians,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, April 29).
Recently I visited the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. It was extremely moving — so many young dedicated lives lost. Dreams snuffed out in an instant. Families devastated.
But as I searched hard for recognition of the same trauma caused by the U.S. to the citizens of Japan in August 1945, I found nothing. Finally, in the U.S. national park brochure, I spotted mention of “atomic bombings” and “the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” — both without recognition that these were carried out by the United States.
Where is U.S. credibility for creating peace in the world if we do not recognize our role in the trauma and devastation of war?
Elizabeth Grant
Eugene, Ore.
Compensate families for wartime discrimination
I call upon our congressional delegation to seek reparations for all Japanese-Americans victims of racial discrimination after Dec. 7, 1941. The Japanese Americans became victims of theft by the United States government, which confiscated their prime lands and separated family members without any justifiable cause.
Despite all the insults by the U.S. government, the Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and 100th Infantry Battalion not only persevered but became the most decorated fighting force for its size and length of service in American history.
It is time for President Joe Biden and Hawaii’s congressional delegation not only to honor these warriors, but to compensate the remaining members and the families for the atrocities committed, including the illegal confiscation of their lands.
Always remembering with liberty and justice for all. God bless America.
Patrick N. Custino
Kaneohe
Laniakea needs bridge more than Ala Moana
It is disturbing to me that Hawaii has found money to build a pedestrian overpass to walk from shops to the beach across the street, despite there being several lighted crosswalks on Ala Moana Boulevard (“Ala Moana Boulevard pedestrian bridge construction to begin,” Star-Advertiser, May 2).
It seems more urgent and necessary to me that we put a pedestrian overpass at Laniakea, where people dart across the street to see the turtles, and cause traffic congestion in the process. It just makes no sense.
Candas Lee Rego
Kailua
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