Maui clinic receives $2.5 million to expand

By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor

KAHULUI, Maui — The nonprofit Community Clinic of Maui has received a $2.5 million federal grant to help build a larger facility to serve the island's needy.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant will cover only about one-quarter of the cost of a new clinic, said board president Gen Iinuma. The agency is hoping other grant requests will come through and plans fund-raising to make up the difference, he said.

Several central Maui sites are being considered for the new clinic, which will provide space for medical and dental services, counseling and administrative offices, an in-house pharmacy, a laboratory and a basic radiology unit.

The Community Clinic of Maui also will lease space in the building to other health and human services groups, Iinuma said.

The agency has been providing medical services on Maui since 1993, when it shared an office at the Salvation Army site. The clinic later moved into a 1,000-square-foot facility at the Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Center in Wailuku, and in 1996 relocated to a 3,500-square-foot facility on Lono Avenue in Kahului.

The Kahului site was expanded to include a 1,400-square-foot building and a 672-square-foot modular trailer. The Community Clinic of Maui also has satellite offices in Wailuku and Lahaina.

"We're really lacking space," said Iinuma, a public health educator with the state Department of Health.

The clinic first employed three workers, but now has a staff of 57, he said. Meanwhile, patient visits have grown from 1,000 a year to 20,411. Last year, 6,000 individuals sought medical help at the clinic, which provides services at a discounted rate.

About 60 percent of patients have no health insurance or are underinsured, Iinuma said. They include the working poor, the homeless, immigrants, and patients with Hawai'i QUEST, Medicaid and Medicare coverage.

For about 35 percent of patients, English is not their first language.

"We are the provider of last resort. We're not a free clinic, but we take care of the gap that most facilities won't take on," he said.

Clinic staff also help patients hook up with other health and human service agencies, and assist them in enrolling in health insurance and financial aid programs.

In addition, the clinic administers various programs that offer free services such as family planning, immigrant health services and HIV/AIDS assistance.

Iinuma said clinic officials would like to see construction on a new building start early next year.

Tax-deductible donations for a new clinic may be sent to the Community Clinic of Maui, 48 Lono Ave., Kahului, HI 96732.