Report: 2 locations identified as potential sites for new Kona Community Hospital

A plan to relocate Kona Community Hospital to North Kona is starting to take shape with sites identified for building the new facility.

The 50-year-old hospital — built in Kealakekua in 1974 — could potentially move to the old Kmart site or the Queen’s site in the West Hawai‘i business park next to Costco.

The proposed sites were identified in a report – Strategic Analysis and Relocation/Replacement Plan Recommendations – conducted by ECG Management Consultants, hired to assess the current and future healthcare needs of West Hawai‘i and to develop recommendations for the future hospital site of care and capabilities of a future KCH.

Click here to read the full report.

“For years, there has been speculation about a new hospital. This report details the next steps we need to take to continue growing and providing the services our community needs and we are carefully evaluating both locations,” said Clayton McGhan, Kona Community Hospital’s Chief Executive Officer. “A new hospital is something our community deserves, and it will enable us to recruit more healthcare providers closer to the population center.”

The hospital staff has scheduled two community meetings to present the report’s findings to the public.

The first is scheduled for Monday at West Hawaiʻi Civic Center, Building A, located at 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, in Kailua-Kona.

The second meeting will take place on June 27 at Kona Community Hospital, located at 79-1019 Haukapila St. in Kealakekua, in the Conference Rooms, Admin Building.

Both meetings will run from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Based on today’s dollars, the total project cost for the ambulatory center and hospital ranges from $544 million to $653 million.

“This report is the culmination of years of work aimed at identifying the needs of West Hawaiʻi’s residents. While we know this is the start of a long road ahead for Kona Community Hospital, we remain steadfast in our support to ensuring timely healthcare is available and accessible to all,” State Senators Dru Kanuha and Tim Richards and State Representatives Nicole Lowen and Kirstin Kahaloa said in a joint statement.

The consulting firm started its work on assessing KCH in August 2023, which was funded by the Hawai‘i State Legislature. Approximately $500,000 was provided to conduct the assessment and identify sites.

McGhan said no decision has been yet as to the new location since they still need to look at water access and how to build with existing structures.

McGhan said this is an exciting next step as it gives the hospital a roadmap toward a new facility. The report shows a 10-year timeframe with the goal to keep people out of the hospital with preventative care.

The recommended plan is developed into three phases. The first is to move forward now to plan and build the ambulatory center, which encompasses a freestanding ER, cath lab, imaging, infusion and physician clinic space.

The second phase would be building the hospital, slated to start in 2030. The building would have 80 beds, surgery and additional ER space.

The third phase is to repurpose the current Kona hospital for urgent care services and skilled nursing and rehabilitation use.

“This strategy allows KCH to parse out funding over a longer period to have more time to work with donors to raise funds and to secure state funding,” the report states. Based on ECG’s time frame, this phased approach assumes the ambulatory center will open in 2030, the hospital in 2035, and the potential reuse of the hospital site after 2035 (recommendation five). Also based on either site selected, there is an opportunity to expand capacity at the new hospital site in the future over the next 40 to 50 years.”

McGhan said some of the greatest needs in West Hawai‘i are psychiatric, cardiology and primary care. He added that one of the most alarming things he found in the report was a deficit of 25 providers.

“It’s alarming and scary for us and we need to solve this issue,” McGhan said. “Having new facilities and opportunities puts us in a position to solve some of this.”

The analysis also identified other considerations for the West Hawaiʻi area which includes communities from Kūkiʻo to Ocean View:

• 80% of patients in West Hawaiʻi seek emergency care services at Kona Community Hospital.
• West Hawaiʻi’s permanent population is expected to grow nearly 11% over the next 10 years.
• Recruiting healthcare professionals remains a great challenge due to specific specialties needed, housing and living costs, and competition.

Last year, hospital spokesperson Judy Donovan said the facility was at risk of closure due to outdated facilities. It also ran the risk of losing its Level 3 Trauma Designation, which requires at least one operating room to always be available to provide emergency surgeries.

Closure was avoided as the hospital received state and federal funding to address the expansion of the pharmacy and upgrade to utilities. However, Donovan added that the risk-of-closure projects are an ongoing concern because of the age of the facility.

During the 2023 legislative session, Hawai‘i Island lawmakers successfully secured $18 million in capital improvement project funding to upgrade Kona Community Hospital’s infrastructure needs and pharmacy expansion.

Hawai‘i Health Systems Corp.’s West Hawai‘i Region, which includes Kona Community Hospital and Kohala Hospital, was awarded $2.5 million in federal funding to bolster its electronic medical records system, also known as EPIC.