State health officials say they face additional delays in moving patients into the Hawaii State Hospital’s new, 144-bed psychiatric facility, after assuring state lawmakers in early April that all the patients would be moved in by this month. Read more
A coalition of social workers, psychologists and other medical professionals is urging Gov. David Ige to veto a bill that could restrict telehealth appointments for mental health services, which soared during the pandemic. Read more
Kaiser Permanente’s psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses and addiction counselors wrapped up a three-day strike Friday with picketing outside of Kaiser’s Waipio Medical Center on Oahu. Read more
The proposed compensation package would make it hard for Kaiser to attract and retain mental health professionals, according to the employees. Read more
The proposed compensation package would make it hard for Kaiser to attract and retain mental health professionals, according to the employees. Read more
The data raises new concerns about the threat of groundwater contamination to Oahu’s drinking water system. It also suggests that the environmental impacts of recent spills from the Red Hill facility are more extensive than the Navy has suggested. Read more
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Mental health professionals employed by Kaiser Permanente say they are ready to strike next week as contract negotiations drag on, four years after they unionized. Read more
The Navy has waived its right to contest a new emergency order issued by the state Department of Health that paves the way for permanently closing its Red Hill fuel storage facility. The order requires the Navy to come up with a plan and implementation schedule to drain the massive, underground tanks by June 30 and a plan to shutter the facility by Nov. 1. Read more
Emilee Carpenter was 17 weeks pregnant when she found out in early December that the tap water she and her husband had been drinking and bathing in was laced with jet fuel. Read more
The owner, with the help of a contractor, pulled the home off the beach and stacked it atop pallets next to the lot’s main house, where it has awkwardly remained for weeks. Read more
For years, the beachfront house at 59-181 D Ke Nui Road that looks out on the tantalizing deep blue and turquoise hues of the Pacific Ocean on Oahu’s North Shore has been battered by large winter waves. Read more
Maui Memorial Medical Center and its health care affiliates in Kula and on Lanai continue to struggle financially six years after the state turned over the cash-strapped hospital system to Kaiser Permanente in a bid to save the state tens of millions of dollars annually. Read more
The U.S. Department of Justice has withdrawn its lawsuit filed in federal and state courts in February contesting the state’s emergency order instructing the Navy to drain its Red Hill fuel tanks. Read more
The Department of Justice had sued the state after it ordered the Navy’s Red Hill tanks be drained. Read more
Land Board Chair Suzanne Case said DLNR received a letter from Dunphy’s attorney requesting a 30-day delay in hearing the matter to provide time to prepare. Read more
State conservation officials are seeking to impose a $92,000 fine against a North Shore property owner for violating state laws by moving large amounts of sand in front of his two beachfront homes to shield them from coastal erosion and refusing to remove broken sandbags, rocks, concrete rubble and other debris that they say he stacked along the public beach. Read more
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources says it’s investigating after a beachfront property owner rented an excavator and moved large amounts of sand in front of his homes at Rocky Point on Oahu’s North Shore to protect them from erosion. Read more
Oahu residents are facing mandatory restrictions on their water use, and developers could have to grapple with a moratorium on new construction as the hot, dry summer months approach — consequences of a reduction in water capacity due to 2021’s Red Hill emergency. Read more
The potential water shortage facing urban Honolulu is already threatening to hold up hundreds of units of affordable housing, new residential and commercial projects in Kakaako and a major environmental upgrade to a sewage treatment plant. Read more
The state has approved eight new wells. Another eight are planned. Read more
Officials overseeing the Hawaii State Hospital told state lawmakers Monday that their new 144-bed psychiatric facility is expected to open its doors to patients in about two weeks after more than a year of delays caused by a lack of policies and procedures, difficulty recruiting staff and flaws in shower floors, door handles and hinges. Read more
