Social services feel the crunch
| • | Prison, fixed rail among Lingle's vetoes |
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
Kahuku Hospital was expecting a $750,000 state subsidy this year, but saw that cut by $400,000 during the weekend by Gov. Linda Lingle, a budget hit that officials say could threaten the rural hospital's long-term survival.
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Kahuku Hospital chief executive officer Don Olden said officials were disappointed and surprised by the reduction in state money after successfully making the case to state lawmakers that community hospitals need financial help.
Gov. Linda Lingle cut about $3.6 million out of a bill passed by the Legislature to give about $10.7 million to social service programs.
Olden said the hospital's board of directors will meet this week to decide what to do next. "Potentially, it's critical to this hospital and this hospital's survival," he said.
Lingle announced during the weekend that she was cutting about $3.6 million out of a bill passed by the Legislature to give about $10.7 million to 20 social service programs statewide. The money is from the 1998 settlement with tobacco companies and placed in the state's "rainy day" reserve fund.
Lingle criticized lawmakers for trying to spend the money now rather than saving it in reserve. "While the state is facing an unexpected reduction in revenues, prudent management of the state's budget requires that funds in the Emergency Budget and Reserve Fund be saved as much as possible for future needs," she wrote in her veto message on Senate Bill 1305.
Among the largest cuts made by Lingle include: $500,000 from Kalihi-area youth service centers and other centers statewide; $450,000 from comprehensive oral health services to under-served children; $300,000 from the Waipahu Community Adult Day Health Center and Youth Day Care Center; $250,000 from Wahiawa General Hospital; and $200,000 reduction from sex abuse treatment services at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children.
Gov. Linda Lingle has cut $3.6 million from 20 programs. Here are the largest cuts from Senate Bill 1305: • $500,000 from youth service centers • $450,000 from oral health services for under-served children • $400,000 from Kahuku Hospital • $300,000 from Waipahu Community Adult Day Health Center • $250,000 from Wahiawa General Hospital Source: Gov. Lingle's veto message
Adriana Ramelli, executive director of the Sex Abuse Treatment Center at Kapi'olani, said the $200,000 cut from its $300,000 appropriation was designated for sex assault treatment services for all islands.
Social service budget cuts
She said the reduction will likely mean a cutback in the center's ability to teach students in middle and high schools about high-risk behaviors, date rape, date-rape drugs and Internet schemes.
Ramelli said the additional money also would have been used for counseling on Maui.
Because some money remains for various sex abuse programs, she said the 24-hour hotline on Kaua'i will likely be spared. Without that $100,000, Ramelli said, the seven-day phone line service might have been closed or cut back.
Ramelli said the center also gets about $924,000 each year from the state general fund and has received that amount since 1996. "We can no longer offer the same services at that amount," she said.
Richard Aea, spokesman for Wahiawa General Hospital, said the $250,000 would have gone to help the hospital cope with losses created by caring for the poor and uninsured.
"It is monies that we would use to pay for indigent care," Aea said. "That's money that we're going to go without. It does make a financial impact."
Aea said Wahiawa loses about $1.2 million each year paying for care for the poor and uninsured.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
