February 25 Meeting: Using the Leahi hospital campus to develop a long-term care master plan

(With apologies, there is no audio available for this meeting. Please tune in next month.)

Notes from the March Kokua Council Newsletter:

Marilyn Seely; The Leahi master plan envisions a long-term care system that would allow Leahi to expand into the community and become a center of excellence for long-term care (LTC).  Leahi hospital on 6.7 acres and adjacent to 10 acres of state property, is ideally situated next to Kapiolani community college with its family caregiving training program and to mental health facilities. The last structure at Leahi was built in 1950.  The governor has just released funds for the repair of Leahi’s physical plant.

There are 9 beds at Leahi still set aside for acute tuberculosis cases.  Only 2 of those beds are currently occupied.  Creative possibilities include the Eden Alternative, The Greenhouse Project and a think tank to meet the needs of the elderly.

 SB 3237 is considered a creative holistic approach and could be a prototype for LTC services in Hawaii.  If passed, an interim report would be due December 2009 and the master plan would be due December 2010. 

Leigh –Wai Doo then reported that this might be “the most important project that Kokua Council might ever do.”  He said it could be a catalyst that will affect the next three generations of seniors.  It is imperative that it be implemented as soon as possible. 

However, the Leahi bill died for this session. We hope the Leahi group will pursue private foundation funding to pursue this worthwhile project .Ed.