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The Fourth of July is, after all, a day to celebrate heroes. So this one shouldn’t pass without a shout-out to two who responded to Friday’s stunning airplane crash and saved lives.
Harley Bone and Jason Wessel sprang into action to pull three occupants from a Piper PA28 that came down in Mapunapuna, beneath a bridge on Moanalua Freeway. They helped to stabilize the victims, who escaped critical injury.
Among the injured, of course, is another hero: the pilot, who managed to bring the plane down without harm to the public, amid air turbulence. It’s a miracle surely worthy of fireworks.
Maui hospitals begin a new life with Kaiser
Privatization of the financially ailing Maui County public hospitals is now a done deal. On July 1, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii’s new Maui Health System took control of Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital & Clinic and Lanai Community Hospital; it plans to invest over $50 million to expand services and update technology.
The Maui facilities had routinely needed emergency state allocations. The transition plan calls for $33.4 million in state funds for this year’s operations, plus a generous one-time sum of $30.6 million for severance benefits to the workforce leaving the state payroll; most workers are retained as Kaiser employees. The deal should save taxpayers $260 million in hospital subsidies over the next decade. Here’s wishing Kaiser and its new patients good luck, and good health.
