HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-29 Malia Hill Testimony Item #7From: Jonathan Helton
To: WPCtestimonv
Subject: Testimony on item 7
Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2024 8:02:14 AM
Attachments: GRIN support Item no 7.pdf
Aloha,
Please see the attached testimony on item 7 for Friday's meeting.
Best,
Jonathan
Jonathan Helton
Policy Researcher
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
1050 Bishop St, #508
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 864-1776 1 (931) 561-7124
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INSTITUTE OF HAWAII
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11l\111TM r �lJl//FA1lt���'t(r 11\1410J101 Removing barriers to Hawaii's prosperity
November 1, 2024, 11 a.m.
Hawai'i County Council Chambers
To: Windward Planning Commission of the County of Hawai'i
Dennis Lin, Chair
Louis Daniele III, Vice -Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Malia Hill, Policy Director
RE: Agenda Item No. 7 — PL -PDI -2024-000009
Aloha Chair Lin, Vice -Chair Daniele III and other members of the Commission,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports the planning director's draft bill relating to hospitals and other
healthcare facilities. The bill would allow hospitals, sanitariums, old age, convalescent, nursing and rest homes
to be built by -right in the industrial -commercial mixed zoning district.
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.
Expanding the areas in which these healthcare facilities could be built would help potential healthcare
providers offer much-needed services to island residents. This is not only a matter of convenience, but also of
healthcare affordability and access. Enacting this bill could help address the state's healthcare shortages.
A 2023 report from the Hawaii Physician Workforce Assessment Project estimated that Hawai'i County has an
unmet need for 206 full-time equivalent physicians.' In addition, a 2022 report by the Healthcare Association
of Hawaii ~z that the county is shy about 500 nurses and other non -physician staff of the number
required to meet its healthcare needs.2
1 "Annual Report on Findings from the Hawai'i Physician Workforce Assessment Proiect," University of Hawai'i, December 2023, p. 5.
2 "Hawai'i Healthcare Workforce Initiative 2022 Report," Healthcare Association of Hawaii, p. 7.
1050 Bishop St. #508 Honolulu, HI 96813 808-864-1776 info@grassrootinstitute.org
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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 Hawai'i 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
1050 Bishop St. #508 Honolulu, HI 96813 808-864-1776 info@grassrootinstitute.org
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