O'ahu may not know it, but the state and its people have a stake in the growing healthcare challenge in West Maui.

O'ahu and all the Neighbor Islands should care that the 50,000 visitors, residents and workers in the Lahaina/Ka'anapali resort area lack emergency care services because of its remote location on Maui. While most everyone appreciates the popular resort area's ability to generate millions of sorely needed tax dollars for the state, it's hard to imagine this piece of island paradise lacks basic life-saving emergency facilities.

With the nearest hospital at least an hour's drive away, and traffic constantly choking existing roadways, waiting for an ambulance to deliver life-saving care is costing the community an increasing number of lives. One would shudder to think of the human and economic devastation that would be caused by some type of natural disaster.

Last year, the state Legislature made a move in the right direction. They established the Maui Health Care Task Force to assess the healthcare needs of our island. I was appointed as one of 15 members from three islands who worked for five months, spending thousand of hours to research and identify our island's top 12 priority needs. In a 140-page report finished last month, we delineated our No. 1 priority: a critical-care hospital in West Maui.

While this finding was of little surprise to West Maui residents whose families have long suffered without access to timely emergency services, the report's conclusions are certainly a sign of hope that our voices will finally be heard. Over the past decade, community support for a critical-care hospital in West Maui has been rapidly gaining support through the West Maui Improvement Foundation, a community nonprofit delivering some impressive results. Ka'anapali Land Management Co. has committed to donating nearly 15 acres of land, adjacent to the Lahaina Civic Center. The foundation has raised $700,000 in seed money from 1,500 contributors. Environmental and traffic studies have been completed.

Just last November, the foundation identified a well-qualified, financially capable investment group that is taking the project to the next level. It plans to invest $70 million in its own funds, is now designing a hospital and medical center, and will soon file for a certificate of need.

The project is on a rare fast track, with construction possible as early as next year. In the coming months, a few important hurdles must be cleared before it can begin: It must be given positive recommendations from three state advisory boards and, ultimately, newly appointed State Health Planning and Development Agency Director Ronald Terry.

The prospects of a new West Maui hospital funded by private investors is not only a possibility, but now a reality. Maui's second hospital would give prompt access to acute emergency care to everyone in West Maui. The new hospital would also free up acute beds at the existing hospital for regular use or longer-term care, serving more patients and saving money.

To help with what The Advertiser calls "the state's long-term care crisis," the developer is also committed to working with local healthcare providers and area business people to bring the first long-term care beds to West Maui.

While there are many issues we may disagree on when it comes to improving our beloved Islands, it is clear that West Maui most certainly deserves a health facility that can take better care of our 'ohana and visitors. The time to support West Maui's hospital is now.

Norm Bezane, a former reporter for Business Week magazine, has been working with the West Maui Improvement Foundation for the last four years. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.