Kaiser wants to move Punawai Clinic
By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau
WAIPAHU — Kaiser Permanente has notified the state that it wants to move its Punawai Clinic in Waipahu about five miles away to Waipi'o Gentry Business Park.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
The health care provider has filed a certificate-of-need application with the state detailing its plans.
According to Kaiser Permanente, the present clinic in Waipahu will cost too much to repair and maintain.
Marilyn Matsunage, administrator for the state Health Planning and Development Agency, said a decision on the application will be made any day now, but she would not comment further, saying she is legally restricted from talking about pending cases.
According to the application, Kaiser intends to spend $9 million to move its Punawai Clinic from Leoku Street in Waipahu to a site on Moaniani Street in the business park.
Kaiser says the old clinic is outdated and would cost too much to repair, maintain and bring up to current building codes.
The new Kaiser building would be near auto dealer Tony Group's new 65,000-square-foot auto mall, now under construction, and a Costco Wholesale store on Ka Uka Boulevard. Kaiser says it would be more cost-effective to lease or buy a new building there than to rebuild at the existing site.
The existing 38,800-square-foot clinic has structural damage in the foundation, a leaky roof and an outdated air-conditioning system, according to the application.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
It also does not meet accessibility requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act, has parking problems and does not have an automatic fire sprinkler system on the clinical floors.
If the state approves its application, Kaiser will place its clinic on this parcel in Waipi'o Gentry Business Park.
In May 1997, Kaiser was granted a certificate of need to move the Punawai Clinic into a new $10.8 million building on the same site, but put that on hold because of cost concerns. Kaiser has since decided it prefers the new site.
In its application, Kaiser states it will not reduce any services to residents in the region from 'Ewa Beach to Pearl City. Such services include family practice/internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, dermatology, ophthalmology and optometry.
Other services planned at the new clinic may include an after-hours clinic, behavioral health, a laboratory, pharmacy, diagnostic imaging and optical sales.
The organization says a new clinic should meet the needs of its 25,000 Central and Leeward members. Kaiser membership is projected to increase to more than 29,000 members by the year 2005.
If the application is approved, Kaiser expects to start construction in November and would open the facility in December 2002.
The state looks at several criteria when deciding on a certificate of need, Matsunage said, including accessibility for residents; quality of care; relationship to the existing health-care system and the state's health plan for the area; cost; and the availability of resources, including health workers.
