Castle gets $3 million for medical plaza plans
By Eloise Aguiar
Windward O'ahu Writer
KAILUA — Once construction of its medical plaza is completed, Castle Medical Center will embark on a $20 million, multi-year hospital renovation.
The medical plaza received a significant boost yesterday with the announcement of a $3 million grant from the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. Castle spokesman David Earles said the plaza is just the first part of a new hospital master plan.
The $10 million plaza is under construction and should be completed by next summer. Once that is done, the hospital will renovate its patient care areas, beginning with the third floor, Earles said.
"We have not put the final figure together but it looks like $20 million" for the renovation project, Earles said. The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation has committed $1 million to the renovation, but a major fund-raising effort will still be required, Earles said.
The Weinberg foundation grant presented to the medical center yesterday essentially pays for the first of the plaza's three floors, he said.
"The rest of it is funded through the physicians' leases," Earles said. "The Weinberg foundation has funded the wellness center, which is the first floor of that building."
The plaza will serve as a medical office building and help bring new services to Windward O'ahu, hospital representatives have said. Already, the building is 95 percent leased.
Its first floor will have a classroom/auditorium and rehabilitation area. The fitness center will include nutritionists, fitness counselors and health professionals to review patients' lifestyle habits.
The foundation gave the medical center the grant because of its contribution to helping the poor and needy in Hawai'i, according to a press release from the Weinberg Foundation.
The Weinberg foundation also gave the hospital $1.29 million in 1996 to upgrade its emergency room entry and outpatient clinic.
Castle will name the new building the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Medical Plaza and Wellness Center.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at 234-5266 or eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.
