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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0169.001 1998-2000 HOSPICE ~f HILO CELEBRATING LIFE, DAY BY DAY ' BOARD OF BIBECroBS March 16, 1999 _ OFFICERS Prenden( fary 6 Ilagrrman, Ery. Vke-Prcsldent L „~,,,,~s, p,,D Hawaii County Council ,~~~r<.;n y 25 Aupuni Street °vJo°E Hilo, HI 96720 '(YU/.fYlf/ John F Rnne1 Attn: Councilman Cultic Tyler ME,BBERS Cutlierine D. Cvmpalnhv Sarah f. Gipe, RN S;dney A,. Fine Dear Council Members: 'a"""'°""Ea" n`'" Hospice of Hilo is writing in support of maintaining, as a minimum, the Hawaii Riro Aimura ~~.r,,,,, n,p,,, County policy of al locating 1 % of the real estate tax to Human Services No-Profit +~~=~+'~Y u,~~^~~~~~r= agencies. During this period of economic decline I would strongly encourage the ` Council to increase the level of al location even further beyond that minimum, to Acphun U'm, k., MU the extent that this is feasible. Ironically, it is during these years when real estate rt.~,•ah~.- m.o~m. ;,r,n~.;;n. Hh, B1F tax revenues are depressed that we typically see the greatest need for human h,~-d~«,~.r<-,~I~, services and consequently the greatest need for public support for non-profit °~"`°h"'ND programs that are able to address those needs. Those of us in the private non- ABVISORYCORYC'L profit sector are quite adept at devising effective and cost-effective programs to "E``" address on-going and emerging social needs. Cutting or eliminating the funding 0ea1d ` °c°10o for these organizations will, in the short term, simply result in fewer people being ~i"'i" served. In the long term this will translate into exacerbated social problems that 'an E iin~~.~., E;D will require even higher outlays of public and private funds to address. Nlan KJkuwa Dlunc K_Kfeffcq RN, BSN p,.,,,,„ Lnn,,, E,~ As an example oCfile rising neeu fur services, lec me share a revealing siaiistic ,,,,,,,,F um,,,.,,,, H„ from our own hospice program. In 1997 we provided 28 patient-days of service to Rvrni iEW. Ea, CE. clients who were not covered by health insurance (private plans, Medicare, Bnhhyfrzn Ie;iEex4PnAd, Medicaid). In 1998 that number rose to 204 patients-days. Clearly, the need for knh~~~ ~;n,.i~..++° services for this segment of the population is rising dramatically. Because we are ~:~n~h,p,n«n»~, a Medicare certified program we must provide core hospice services to all clients ;.~^~nar~s.Tapaka regardless of their ability to pay. Consequently we are hard at work looking for s,eph.'nK v'm<n''n,E.~q, additional revenues from e-:?ry source in order to rernain viable. The County's "`""T~"`h'nEaE~y support is vital in this ret;.trd. Comm. Na l v ~ ~s r UMMIM~I I11e No. N GG I~? pA7 ® 1011 WAIANUENUE AVENUG, HILO, I{I 96720 L' O U N G I L TELEPHONE: (608) 969-1733 • FACSIMILE (806) 969-4863 Ref. To: E-mail: hospice@hialoha.net www.web-fachx.mm/hospice/ ~ 1 7 199.9 Ref. Dete I urge the Council to make every effort to fund the Human Services Non-Profits grants program at the historical $900,000 level. At the very minimum, please consider investing at least 1 % of the real estate tax in the welfare of the community. The long-term benefits will be ten-fold. Thank you for this opportunity to share my views with you. Sincerely, Brenda Ho, R.N., B.S.N. Executive Director _ HOSPICE ~.f H I LO CELEBRATING LIPE, DAY BY DAY NOAR11 OP DIRECTORS OFFICERS March 16, 1999 PrrriAen! G n' N. IlvRerman, Esy. Vk,-1'rend,m( UrW L ?anmus, Ph.D sM^""~~~ J. Curtis Tyler III Ronny de Jong T,r".,^,r, Hawaii County Council ~nhn F Rnnr, 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, HI 96720 MEMBERS Cahrrinu D. Campainha Sara,, E.Gupe,RN Dear Councilman Tyler: Sidnev M. Poke "`""""'e""" RN I ve much a reciated meetin ou and the other members of the Council durin Iam,r Moana Knwavd,l ry Pp g Y g a'e, Kininra your site visit yesterday morning. I was gratified to be able to explain to you in G''r°'~" "aw'a detail our program and our program needs. The questions posed by the council Gladys Y. s"""""~ members and staft'were cor~ent and reflected a great depth ofunderstanding, CamL Winrgardcn. RN J A. Slepnm~ann, Ir.. MD interest and attention to detail. It was apparent that you all had taken great pains to T:errnu,wTV,M,^, analyze our funding request and I appreciate the time and energy that you invested Nr"'da NSN in doing so. I look forward to the opportunity to provide further information to the Ned1e0'°""`°' Council on Tuesday, March 23, 1999. Alice Adeq MU ADVISORY COPPCIL Sliiµckn LC.Ilang Sincerely, Gerald L. DeMelin I W I I Tany Ilvnlev Ian L II^usrr_MD \\~~F Allan K. Ikawa Brenda Ho, RN Div,r K. Kieffer, RN, N54 EXecutlve Director Parr K_ Kuhum. Eey jan,reT Lambent MD Warren II W'. la~e. Y.E. Ronny )ran Lrlmrad mde, Esq_ Roherl Mures, MD Cynthia cnre,unn IcnnmN S. Tanakv Smphrn K Yan,avhiro, Esq. Terence T Yoshioka, E~q Comm. No. File No. uve.avlrw ® 1011 WAIANUENUE AVENUE, HILO, HI 96720 Ref. To: TELEPHONE: (808) 969-1733 FACSIMILE: (808) 969-4863 ROT. Date E-mail: hospiceOhialohR.net www.web-factoccom/hospice/ , i I.