Kula Hospital, established nearly 100 years ago as a tuberculosis sanatorium, is a vital part of the tiny Upcountry town of Keokea, with a long history of providing jobs and medical care to the community.

Ho'olaule'a organizer Richard Dancil's parents worked as nurses at the hospital for 40 years, Dancil was born there in 1964 and now he's the maintenance supervisor. He has aunties, uncles and other relatives working there, too.

"I've got a lot of feeling for the place," Dancil said.

He said he wants people to know Kula Hospital is not just a place for "old folks," although long-term care is one of its main missions. The hospital, run by the quasi-public Hawai'i Health Systems Corp., is licensed for 115 beds and has more than 200 employees. It also provides residential care for the developmentally disabled, outpatient care, rehabilitation therapy and limited acute care.

The Kula Farm & Sanatorium opened in 1910 at the 3,000-foot level of Haleakala, chosen for the area's clear air and cool weather. Its first patients were housed in tents, which reportedly were blown down by the wind on at least one occasion. Wooden buildings replaced the tents, and in 1924 a Preventorium opened to provide improved diet and health education to about 100 malnourished children.

Locals referred to the road leading to the sanatorium as "Make Road," using the Hawaiian word for death. In 1927, 160 new cases of TB were reported on Maui, and there were 64 deaths from the disease among a population of 47,000, according to hospital records. The sanatorium had 156 patients that year.

In 1932, a 20-bed hospital was opened on the grounds for non-TB patients.

Dr. Joe Andrews, 89, came to Kula Hospital from Pittsburgh in 1948. Dancil said Andrews, a chest surgeon, was called "the miracle doctor" for the surgeries he performed to remove the diseased portions of TB patients' lungs.

Andrews, who still lives in Kula, said that by the late 1950s, antibiotics had become an effective weapon in the fight against TB, and many of the longtime patients no longer needed hospitalization. Kula Hospital was able to shift to other medical services, although even today area residents refer to the site as "Kula San."

Andrews said he can vouch for the hospital's physical therapy department: He stayed at the hospital for three months last year after shattering a leg when he was hit by a car, and just recently he stopped having to use a cane to walk.

The main building, now recognized on the state Register of Historic Places, opened in 1936 as a 200-bed facility for TB patients.

Dancil said another remarkable thing about Kula Hospital is that it was self-sufficient for much of its history. Fruits and vegetables were grown on the grounds, and there was a dairy and livestock to provide milk and meat. The dairy was in operation until 1969.

Dancil said a documentary on the history of Kula Hospital is being prepared in anticipation of its 100th anniversary. Anyone with historical information, photos or stories to share should contact shirleydumo@yahoo .com.