Posted on: Thursday, February 6, 2003

EDITORIAL
Community health cuts ultimately cost us more

When Gov. Linda Lingle insisted the state budget could be balanced by trimming bureaucratic flab, we looked forward to a report identifying innovative ways to save money.

But we fail to see how cutting $1.6 million from the state's 10 community health centers fits into that scenario. Rather than deflating a bloated bureaucracy, cutting community health takes an ax to frontline services for Hawai'i's most vulnerable residents.

If you don't believe us, ask the folks who depend on health centers in Wai'anae, Kalihi-Palama, Waikiki, Waimanalo, Maui, the Big Island and Kaua'i.

In the case of the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, which serves 24,000 patients a year, a $425,000 cut will affect dental care, pharmacy, laboratory and X-ray services to the uninsured, according to the center's CEO.

Apparently, the clinics were targeted because supplemental funds, appropriated by the Legislature to meet a growing demand for their services, had not been spent. It's not that the money wasn't sorely needed. The contracts just hadn't been finalized because of delays. So when the Lingle administration came in and discovered the unspent appropriations, it perhaps reasonably considered them superfluous.

They're certainly not. These clinics have seen a steady rise in patients, many of whom live below the poverty level.

Without receiving preventative healthcare, thousands of Islanders might have to resort to seeking medical help, say, at the emergency room at The Queen's Medical Center. We're afraid that kind of fallout could eventually cost us a lot more than $1.6 million.