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Home My WebLink About2019-02-04 Letter to John Mizuno re HB 873 - teaching hospitalsHarry Kim Mawr Wil Okabe Managing Director Barbara J. Kossow Depun, Managing Director County of Hawaii Office of the Mayor 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2603 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720 • (808) 961-8211 . Fax (808) 961-6553 KONA. 74-5044 Are Keohokalole Hwy, Bldg C • Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 (808) 323-4444 . Fax (808) 323-4440 February 4, 2019 Rep. John M. Mizuno, Chair COMMITTEE ON HEALTH Hawai'i State Legislature Dear Chair Mizuno and Committee members: Re: HB 873, RELATING TO TEACHING HOSPITALS The concept of establishing a teaching hospital in West Hawai'i is a masterstroke. It will serve as a focus for recruiting, training and retaining the healthcare workers — physicians, nurses and others — that are so sorely needed on Hawai'i Island. It will be core to the healthcare infrastructure enhancements needed to care for our growing population, predicted by DBEDT to reach 300,000 by 2040. A West Hawai'i teaching hospital will attract physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists, phlebotomists, x-ray technicians, all the ancillary staff needed to run a hospital. It will become the anchor of a robust, coordinated healthcare system, key to sustaining and retaining the healthcare workers currently lacking on the Big Island. It will enhance and diversify our economy, presently so dependent on tourism. It may have a positive impact on tourism itself, assuring older or medically fragile tourists that West Hawaii is a safe place to be and perhaps even bringing "medical tourists" seeking treatment. Most of all, it will mean that clinical services and medical services presently absent on -island will be available to our residents, allowing local families to receive care and support at home, often a big part of any recovery. Teaching hospitals are known to raise the standard of care in the communities they serve, providing opportunity and employment, while better addressing everyday healthcare needs of residents and visitors alike. Count) of Hawaii is an Equal Opportumt} Provider and Employer Rep. J. Mizuno Page 2 — February 4, 2019 HB 873 This Legislature approved a feasibility study once, but the funds lapsed. I sincerely hope that you will authorize funding again, so that such a study can move forward. Sincerely, arty Kim Mayor County of Hawaii is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer