Land sale step toward UH med school in Waipi'o

By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer

Wahiawa General Hospital has bought 80 acres of land in Waipi'o, clearing the way for developers to start building an ambitious sports medicine and hospital complex — and to lobby the University of Hawai'i to build its medical school there.

The sale comes as UH officials try to find the best site for the medical school, which school officials want to move from its aging Manoa home. Waipi'o is one of at least four possible locations. UH President Evan Dobelle said yesterday he is also considering Kaka'ako, Tripler Army Medical Center and West O'ahu as well as other suggestions.

The Waipi'o land is across from the new Costco on Ka Uka Boulevard. It is at the core of 210 acres of open space that the hospital wants to turn into a health care, research and biotechnology center.

The Waipi'o plan calls for UH and all of Hawai'i's hospitals to bring in medical research units, which would feed off each other, attract grant money and entice biotechnology companies to build research offices. Wahiawa General would also build a full hospital on the site, which could replace its current hospital.

The Wahiawa Hospital Association will go before the Land Use Commission in early September to get approval for a zoning change, which must happen before the medical complex can be built, said Rodger McCloskey, the association's chairman.

Benjamin Rook, a nationally known hospital designer hired by the Wahiawa Hospital Association, said the proposed medical center, which would cost several hundred million dollars to develop, would be unique and attractive to research companies.

The concept received generally positive reviews from Hawai'i observers, though state and university officials say it could be built elsewhere.

Rook is managing principal of multinational firm Odell Associates and one of the major designers behind The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and other major health-care projects.

Rook has presented his plan to the UH medical school dean, Dr. Edwin Cadman, as well as to legislators, state administrators, doctors, developers and officials from other hospitals.

At a breakfast yesterday several dozen such listeners, Rook said the "moons are in alignment" for a project like this in Hawai'i. Such a center not only would satisfy UH's needs for a new medical school, but stands the chance of becoming a world-class research hub akin to the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, Rook said.

Given enough land and financial incentives, major pharmaceutical companies would be very interested in developing in Hawai'i, Rook said. The state is relatively close to many of the tropical countries that provide rare plants and other raw research material, he said.

"Here, in Monopoly terms, you're halfway between Boardwalk and Park Place," he said.

Regarding the medical school, Rook said the Waipi'o site is superior to either Tripler or Kaka'ako. Tripler could attract lots of federal money — but the land is too hilly, and government regulations too stringent, to draw in private investors, Rook said. Kaka'ako is too small and too urban, he said.

Joe Blanco, special technology adviser to Gov. Ben Cayetano, said Rook's model "is one that everyone would subscribe to."

But he said it would work well on other sites — particularly West O'ahu, on several hundred acres of state land near Kapolei. That land would be cheaper to develop than the privately held land in Mililani, Blanco said.

UH President Dobelle said on Wednesday that he is most interested in West O'ahu, where the medical school could be developed in conjunction with a football stadium and the campus of University of Hawai'i — West O'ahu.

Cayetano said yesterday that he believes it is appropriate that Dobelle review all of the potential sites for the proposed medical school. But, Cayetano said, "It is also important that he understand the reasons why Kaka'ako was the choice of former UH President Kenneth Mortimer, the Board of Regents and this administration."

Sen. Daniel Inouye, who would be key if federal money is sought, could not be reached for comment yesterday. But Inouye's chief of staff, Jennifer Sabas, said the senator would want a research center to have a "national mission" if it were to get federal money. Sabas would not say which site Inouye prefers, though she said a tie through Tripler would be a "natural allegiance."

"It's really healthy that (Dobelle) is reassessing the project, and searching for the best site; we await his initial assessment," Sabas said.

Jan Yokota, executive director of the Hawai'i Community Development Authority, is in charge of developing Kaka'ako, which was the site originally slated for the new medical school until Dobelle decided to review the plans.

Yokota maintained yesterday that the Kaka'ako site for the medical school is big enough — including state and private land, it's about 40 acres — but said she is glad the university is reviewing its options.