BUSINESS BRIEFS
Approval sought for Maui hospital
Advertiser Staff
The developer of the proposed $51.5 million West Maui Hospital and Medical Center has filed for a certificate of need with the state Health Development Planning Agency, seeking approval for what would be the first new hospital built in the state in 20 years.
The proposal calls for a 25-bed critical-care hospital and 40-bed skilled nursing facility to be built on about 15 acres near the Lahaina Civic Center in West Maui. The effort has been supported by the West Maui Improvement Foundation, which has argued such a facility is critical to the emergency-care needs of the West Maui area because of lengthy transport times to the closest trauma center, at Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku.
The project requires a certificate of need and a zoning change before it can proceed. Developer Newport Hospital Corp. is scheduled to go before the Maui County Council on March 18 with the zoning request.
NEW DIALYSIS CENTER IN KAPAHULU
Fresenius Medical Care North America said it is opening a new dialysis center in Kapahulu that features 24 dialysis stations.The center will offer in-center hemodialysis services and also home service, a kidney transplant support program, anemia management, nutrition counseling and bone disease management. The new center is at 750 Palani Ave.
Fresenius is a subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care AG, the world's largest integrated provider of products and services for patients undergoing dialysis because of chronic kidney failure
LONGS, WALGREENS JOIN GOOGLE SITE
Longs Drug Stores Corp. and Walgreens Co. are among the companies working with Google Inc. as it develops Google Health, a site that will help patients manage their medical records online when it debuts later this year.Bloomberg News reported that Google chief executive Eric Schmidt discussed the product yesterday at the Health Information and Management Systems Society, talking about partnerships it is forging with hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and medical test labs. Bloomberg said the product will give patients a single site where they can store and manage their health records. Others working with Google include Quest Diagnostics Inc. and the Cleveland Clinic, Bloomberg reported.
Longs, based in Walnut Creek, Calif., is the largest operator of drug stores in Hawai'i, while Walgreens, the nation's largest drug store chain, is developing a presence here.
VERIZON WIRELESS ADDS PUNA SITE
Verizon Wireless has added a new cell site on the Big Island that will expand coverage in the Puna area, including Hawaiian Paradise Park and Orchid Land Estates.Verizon Wireless has invested more than $133 million in its wireless network in Hawai'i over the past six years.
The company has invested more than $40 billion nationally since being formed seven years ago .
TALK ON 'HAWAI'I'S ENERGY FUTURE'
The public can hear about "Hawaii's Energy Future" at the Hawaii State Library tomorrow.Peter Rosegg of Hawaiian Electric Co. will give a free Power- Point presentation on what's in store in terms of the state's energy use.
The presentation will be at 1 p.m. in the Hawaii & Pacific Reading Room at the library, at 478 S. King St.
Books from the library's Energy Resources Collection will also be available.
For more information, call the library at 586-3470.
