KAUNAKAKAI - Seven years of fundraising and 29 months of construction ended Friday with a celebration at the redeveloped Molokai General Hospital.
"I think we just gained the trust of our community," said Janice Kalanihuia, president of Molokai General Hospital, which operates under Queen's Health Systems. She expressed both relief and pride in the completion of a more than $17 million campaign that brought the hospital in compliance with all required codes for a rural health care facility.
Molokai General Hospital's redevelopment project stemmed from 1996 when the hospital conducted its own code compliance survey and failed. "We knew there were issues, and we talked about the fixes," Kalanihuia recalled Friday.
By 2001, hospital officials and supporters launched a fundraising campaign to raise the capital needed to renovate the 40-year-old facility, which was in need of both electrical and structural upgrades.
Three years later, a 12,000-square-foot addition was built for $7.5 million. The improvements included replacing old patient beds with new acute-care beds, building imaging and X-ray stations, and a new emergency room. The project included space for same-day procedures and surgeries.
Now, the hospital has fresh paint on its walls, sufficient electrical outlets, and there's no leaky roofs.
The changes were essential, not only for code compliance but also for public trust in Molokai's hospital, Kalanihuia said.
She acknowledged that the hospital's overall look prior to the redevelopment didn't make a good impression about the facility's care of its patients.
"We had things that didn't instill your faith in us when you walked through the door," she said.
Throughout all the construction phases, Molokai General Hospital continued to operate. "We went through great lengths to keep serving our patients," she said.
Funding for the hospital's improvements have come from:
* State appropriations, $5 million.
* Queen's Health Systems, $5 million.
* Federal government appropriations, $3 million.
* Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, $2.5 million.
* Office of Hawaiian Affairs, $1 million.
* Maui County, $500,000.
"It was a public-private partnership," Kalanihuia said.
The project was also supported by Molokai residents, the hospital's employees and a number of nonprofit organizations. A local artist donated $75,000 to put the final touches on the completed project.
Molokai General Hospital is a 15-bed rural health care facility with a critical access hospital designation. It provides the only emergency room for the residents and visitors on the Friendly Isle.
The hospital became a part of the Queen's Health Systems in 1987.
* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.
