Overcrowding at the Hawaii State Hospital (HSH) in Kane-ohe has been a chronic problem, one that’s escalated with real dangers regarding staff safety, patient care and public security.
At long last, the state Department of Health (DOH) recently received the go-ahead and substantial funds to start overhauling its outdated facilities — so it would be unwise to allow recent objections from nearby Windward Community College to delay needed progress.
At issue is the DOH’s plan to replace its decrepit, unused Bishop Hall building, which sits next to the college’s Great Lawn, with a new 140- to 150-bed skilled nursing facility.
The facility would be an integral piece of a comprehensive overhaul of hospital operations, allowing up to 50 beds for elderly mentally ill patients; such patients now live at HSH, occupying beds direly needed for patients ordered there by the courts.
The nursing home would fill a vital need for HSH — and since the remainder of beds would be for the general public, would also meet future needs for Hawaii’s increasingly senior population.
But in recent weeks, some Windward Community College faculty, staff and students have objected to the proposed facility, saying it would block the Great Lawn’s grand viewplanes. Their respective senates passed resolutions urging Gov. David Ige to consider building the facility elsewhere via a land swap with WCC.
The Ige administration, citing topography and access issues, is right to proceed despite the objec- tions; upgrading HSH has been an imperative awaiting funds for a decade.
The desire to preserve the Great Lawn’s every aspect is understandable; it is an idyllic green space. But the now-boarded Bishop building has long been part of that landscape; the parcel on which it sits, adjacent to the lawn, would simply be put to better building use. And that proposed building is far from objectionable: The plan shows a two-story facility, with its first story set underground to blend in with the campus and not obstructing views of the Koolau Mountains.
In a promising public-private partnership, Utah-based Avalon Health Care would pay the state ground lease rent and shoulder the cost of development for the long-term care facility.
Avalon is now working to meet requirements of the Historic Preservation Division since the Bishop building, built in the 1930s, is on the state register of historic places.
Last month, legislators agreed to allot $160 million for a new 144-bed forensic hospital on Hawaii State Hospital grounds, a needed modern facility for the court-ordered mentally ill. The Avalon nursing home abutting WCC’s Great Lawn is separate from the forensic hospital, but will be crucial in the overall master plan to significantly improve conditions for HSH‘s staff and patients. The overcrowded and outdated HSH facilities have led to staff injuries, which have sparked lawsuits and community concern.
The WCC protests against the nursing home cited security risks from possible HSH escapees, but even its chancellor acknowledges that concern as overblown and unwarranted. In fact, the nursing home’s HSH patients would be fairly frail, suffering major physical ailments along with mental illness. Ironically, the extra beds afforded by the nursing home would reduce danger to the community, by helping to alleviate and improve security conditions at HSH’s main forensic hospital.
Avalon also is exploring how the facility might be a training venue for certified nurse aides, licensed nurses, nurse practitioners and other health care professionals, says DOH spokeswoman Janice Okubo, as well as provide jobs for graduates of WCC and other schools. This is a worthwhile vision that Avalon, and the college, should bring to fruition.
After a decade in overall planning, with work finally imminent, backsliding to square one is not an option once community benefits are weighed. On balance, a low-profile nursing home — one that would free up 50 beds from the overcrowded State Hospital and open 100 new beds for the general public — is a sound replacement for the dilapidated Bishop building.
Overzealous guarding of this status quo is misguided, and takes NIMBYism from Not in My Back Yard, to Not in My Great Lawn.
