Laserfiche WebLink
GRASSROOT <br />INSTITUTE OF HAWAII <br />1050 Bishop St. #508 <br />Honolulu, I-II 9$13 <br />808-8+-1776 <br />info grassrootinstituteorg <br />11l\111TM r �lJl//FA1lt���'t(r 11\1410J101 Removing barriers to Hawaii's prosperity <br />November 1, 2024, 11 a.m. <br />Hawai'i County Council Chambers <br />To: Windward Planning Commission of the County of Hawai'i <br />Dennis Lin, Chair <br />Louis Daniele III, Vice -Chair <br />From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii <br />Malia Hill, Policy Director <br />RE: Agenda Item No. 7 — PL -PDI -2024-000009 <br />Aloha Chair Lin, Vice -Chair Daniele III and other members of the Commission, <br />The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports the planning director's draft bill relating to hospitals and other <br />healthcare facilities. The bill would allow hospitals, sanitariums, old age, convalescent, nursing and rest homes <br />to be built by -right in the industrial -commercial mixed zoning district. <br />These facilities are considered a by -right use in the general, village and Downtown Hilo commercial zones; <br />however, they are not permitted in any of the county's industrial zones. <br />Expanding the areas in which these healthcare facilities could be built would help potential healthcare <br />providers offer much-needed services to island residents. This is not only a matter of convenience, but also of <br />healthcare affordability and access. Enacting this bill could help address the state's healthcare shortages. <br />A 2023 report from the Hawaii Physician Workforce Assessment Project estimated that Hawai'i County has an <br />unmet need for 206 full-time equivalent physicians.' In addition, a 2022 report by the Healthcare Association <br />of Hawaii ~z that the county is shy about 500 nurses and other non -physician staff of the number <br />required to meet its healthcare needs.2 <br />1 "Annual Report on Findings from the Hawai'i Physician Workforce Assessment Proiect," University of Hawai'i, December 2023, p. 5. <br />2 "Hawai'i Healthcare Workforce Initiative 2022 Report," Healthcare Association of Hawaii, p. 7. <br />1050 Bishop St. #508 Honolulu, HI 96813 808-864-1776 info@grassrootinstitute.org <br />1 <br />