HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0093.002 2024-2026f! 0 Rr; hc.tp �t 504.
-ionoiu►ii, I -
`I t_iLf I r
Feb. 19, 2025, 9 a.m.
Hawai'i County Building
To: Hawaii County Council
Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair
Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Vice -Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Malia Hill, Policy Director
RE: Bill 22 (2025)— RELATING TO HOSPITALS, SANITARIUMS, OLD AGE, CONVALSECENT, NURSING AND REST HOMES
Aloha Chair Inaba, Vice -Chair Onishi and other members of the Council,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports Bill 22 (20251 which would allow hospitals, sanitariums, old age, convalescent,
nursing and rest homes to be built by -right in industrial -commercial mixed zoning districts.
These facilities are considered a by -right use in the general, village and Downtown Hilo commercial zones; however, they
are not permitted in any of the county's industrial zones.
A 2023 report from the Hawaii Physician Workforce Assessment Project estimated that Hawaii County has an unmet
need for 206 full-time equivalent physicians.' In addition, a 2022 report by the Healthcare Association of Hawaii
estimated that the county is shy about 500 nurses and other non -physician staff of the number required to meet its
healthcare needs.2
Expanding zoning options for healthcare might not immediately increase the number of available doctors and nurses in
the county, but it would remove unnecessary barriers to new facilities. Making it easier to open a new healthcare facility,
in turn, would bring more doctors, specialists and healthcare professionals to Hawaii County, thereby improving
healthcare access and outcomes for its residents.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Malia Hill, Policy Director
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
' "Annual Report on Findings from the Hawai'i Physician Workforce Assessment Project," University of Hawaii, December 2023, p. 5.
Z 1Hawai'i Healthcare Workforce Initiative 2022 Report" Healthcare Association of Hawaii, p. 7.
1050 Bishop St. #508 Honolulu, HI 96813 808-864-1776 info@grassrootinstituie.org b
1 — { --