The Waianae District, one of the areas on Oahu with serious health problems and lacking in medical facilities, will have two full-time physicians in a few months.
Dr. Walter B. Quisenberry, State heath director, said the services of the two physicians will become available by the end of the year.
He said the State will provide the space to the doctors at no cost initially. Later, he said adjustments will be made to operate the facility on a self-supporting basis.
Dr. Quisenberry and Board of Health members met with Waianae District leaders after inspecting the area yesterday. …
Mrs. Sylvia Levy, State comprehensive health planner, explained that three sites are under consideration for the medical building. One is in Waianae, one in Maili and another in Nanakuli.
Mrs. Levy said the present plan is to refurbish a portable building for use by the physicians. She will meet with community residents to determine the most suitable site.
"I think we can select the site in the next couple of weeks," she said.
Floyd Loving, chairman of the Waianae Model Cities Task Force, said many residents can’t seek medical services elsewhere due to the lack of transportation.
"What we really need here is a hospital," he said.
Loving said the Leeward section is one of the fastest-growing areas of the Island.
Raymond Saito, chairman of the Health Task Force, explained the difficulty he encountered in trying to get the City to provide better medical services to his community.
"Until Mrs. Levy stepped in to assist us, we were moving at a snail’s pace on this," he said.
Dr. Quisenberry noted there would be no pressing need for additional ambulances for the Waianae-Nanakuli area when the two doctors establish their practices there.
Board of Health members during the tour learned that Makaha Valley, Inc., developers of a major resort complex in Makaha, will need 200 workers when a new hotel is completed there.
Makaha Valley officials hope to recruit 75 per cent of the hotel workers from the Waianae district, board members were told.
