With all due respect to the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, it was the right move to shelve indefinitely plans to build a $50 million center in his honor at the University of Hawaii’s Manoa campus.

Rather than compete for state funds that UH desperately needs to chip away at a $503 million repair and maintenance backlog, the DKI Institute and family of the late senator decided to put plans on hold.

Lawmakers have been critical of the university for pursuing new projects and initiatives when facilities, especially at the Manoa campus, are in disrepair.

New era begins for state hospitals on Maui

The devil will be in the details, of course, and there are many — but the privatization of Maui’s public hospitals has crossed a crucial threshold.

The state has signed a 30-year pact with Kaiser Permanente to upgrade and operate Maui’s three financially ailing hospitals come July. The state will continue owning the facilities, but over the next 10 years, the annual public subsidy of $33.4 million this year will shrink to zero in 2025. That’s huge. Also anticipated are Kaiser’s reinvestment in the sites to improve aspects such as information technology and facilities — all toward the goal of quality patient care, open to all insurance plans.

Let’s hope the resuscitation is a success.