UH sees boost in federal dollars
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
The new John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kaka'ako — set for groundbreaking Oct. 24 — offers the University of Hawai'i a major boost toward receiving millions of new federal dollars, according to UH officials.
The money would come not just from research grants, but from recovering research "overhead" expenses that UH lost out on during a decade of stingy maintenance budgets.
As Gov. Ben Cayetano and UH President Evan Dobelle yesterday lauded an imminent Sept. 15 warehouse demolition that will precede construction, Dobelle promised a new effort to go after federal money UH hasn't been getting.
"We're losing millions in tax dollars because of our (past) failure to ask for increases," said Dobelle. "The University of Hawai'i has to catch up with its peers."
Overhead reimbursement rates are tied to what an institution spends to maintain its buildings. That means for every federal grant an institution receives, it gets that additional percentage of the total to pay for overhead such as lease rent, depreciation, mortgage costs, utilities and maintenance.
According to medical school dean Edwin Cadman, UH's overhead rate of 36 percent is low compared to a U.S. average of 50 percent.
"When the new campus opens, our 'indirect cost' rate will go up," said Cadman. "The rate will increase any time a new building comes on line. By our investing in the university, the federal government will eventually pay that back in the 'indirect cost' rate of grants."
UH is assessing whether it would be more financially advantageous to call the new Kaka'ako campus a separate entity or lump it together with the Manoa campus.
Keeping the new campus separate would set its reimbursement rate for research overhead costs around 50 to 55 percent after its completion in 2005, said Cadman. Lumping it in with the university would raise the overall rate to approximately 40 to 42 percent, he estimated.
In addition to those money issues, the medical school in Kaka'ako is going to "put UH on the map," said Cayetano, providing "a catalyst" to give the world "a premier center for biomedical research."
He also had high praise for the UH team that put the plan together in the past year.
"Without Dobelle's leadership and Cadman's vision we wouldn't be here," Cayetano said, looking down from the 10th floor of the Gold Bond Building at 677 Ala Moana to the warehouses that will disappear with the start of demolition in about two weeks. That will clear the way for the $150 million project on 9.9 acres of state land.
Cayetano said that as far back as 1994, his administration "saw Hawai'i as a center for healthcare."
Dobelle said the new medical school will be one of Cayetano's legacies. This is an exciting time in Hawai'i's history, with the governor's dream about to be implemented, Dobelle said.
"It demonstrates the University of Hawai'i is on the move and has the money," said Dobelle. "We mean what we say about the future. The first year was about dreaming dreams and this year is about implementing them."
The new medical school will have a childcare center, a fitness center, a café, a water feature, major artwork and a modest parking lot for 200 cars. There are plans for an additional 400 spaces off-site.
The school will eventually encompass 1,200 research jobs, up around 500 to 600. An additional 1,000 new jobs are estimated as part of nearby small "incubator" companies that will spin off from biomedical research projects. Dobelle has suggested that start-work hours be staggered to prevent traffic congestion on Ala Moana.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
