Abolish certificate-of-need process

More than in most years, the Legislature has the future of Maui’s medical facilities in its hands. One of the first things the legislators will see when the 2008 session begins Jan. 16 will be a group of Mauians.

The Association for Improved Healthcare on Maui plans to demonstrate for a new Maui hospital or hospitals and against the certificate-of-need process that killed a proposal for a private full-service hospital in Kihei.

The process is nominally designed to provide financial protection for existing public facilities such as Maui Memorial Medical Center, which operates under a statewide umbrella organization, the Hawaii Health Systems Corp., set up by the Legislature to rectify the management failings of the state Department of Health.

The Association for Improved Healthcare on Maui is a community-based group with some 3,000 members. It is pushing for at least one new full-service hospital operated privately on Maui and transforming Maui Memorial into a support facility.

Trapped in a system that controls its finances, Maui Memorial struggles to keep up with advances in medical technology and a growing population. Maui has access to enough resources to construct a new hospital and the satellite facilities needed in West Maui and elsewhere. It will never happen as long as the certificate-of-need process is in effect.

The 2008 Legislature can – and should – let Maui decide what it needs by abolishing the state’s current review process for medical facilities and services.