Select
Letters to Editor Received by Maui Newspapers
Here
is a partial selection of letters written to Maui newspapers. More historical
letters to be added as time permits.l
May 03, 2006, Maui News
SISTER'S PAIN PROMPTS PLEA FOR HOSPITAL
One day my whole family came to watch me play
tennis. We walked down stairs to the courts and then all of a sudden
my little sister tripped and fractured one bone in her left arm. Employees
rushed down with ice. Later on my mom drove her to the hospital in
Wailuku. But we were not in luck. There was traffic! So it took about
45 minutes to get there. But on the road there my sister was in pain
like you would not imagine! So that's why if we had a hospital here
in Lahaina then she wouldn't have had to wait while she was hurt. Another
reason why we should have a hospital here in Lahaina is that for real
medical emergencies the patient should be taken care of immediately,
not drive from the west side to Wailuku. It can make a huge difference
in someone's life. Someone could die if they don't get help right away.
Please, we really need a hospital here in Lahaina.
Tanya Noury
May 4, 06, Lahaina News
LAHAINA NEEDS A HOSPITAL SAYS SEVENTH GRADER
I think there should be a hospital in Lahaina
because there is only one hospital on the entire island of Maui.
One hospital cannot support the entire island population of over 91,000
people. (Editors note: It's 140,000 plus) Having a hospital
in Lahaina would also make people worry less. A hospital in Lahaina
would also make it easier and faster for the people who live on West
Maui to receive the medical care they need. Also, if the Maui Memorial
Medical Center was busy, there would be another hospital people could
go to.
First of all, a hospital in Lahaina would be
much easier to access for the people of West Maui. I also think that
having a hospital in Lahaina would save more lives. A person might have
to wait over an hour just to get to the hospital. Imagine that you just
got into a really bad car accident, and you are severely injured. First,
you'll have to wait for the ambulance to come, then take a 45-minute
drive to the Maui Memorial Medical Center. Now imagine that the hospital
was busy. You would have to wait to receive the proper medical attention
you need. Secondly, I think that just knowing there's a hospital
in Lahaina would comfort many people. When people find out that a family
member or friend was hurt on West Maui, they wouldn't have to worry
about the question, "Will they make it to the hospital in time?"
People would be relieved to know that whoever
is injured can get the care they need fast. I also think that it would
be easier for some people to visit friends or family in the hospital
if there wasn't one so far away. Lastly, the Maui Memorial Medical Center
cannot provide enough medical care for the entire island. The hospital
only has 201 beds, and there are over 91,000 people on the entire island
of Maui. If there was an attack on Hawaii, and a lot of people got
injured on Maui, one hospital could not support everyone. I know
that having a hospital in Lahaina would be bad in some ways, like making
traffic worse than it already is. But maybe the hospital could be put
somewhere secluded, or there could be another road made to access the
hospital. In conclusion, a hospital in Lahaina would benefit the community.
It would save more lives, relieve stress and worry from people, provide
more medical coverage, and allow people to visit others in the hospital.
CIARA ALLEN, Grade 7, West Maui
Mar 23,06, Maui News
WEST MAUI NEEDS EMERGENCY CARE
The serious need for emergency care in West Maui
was reinforced for me several days ago. After waking with intense
kidney pain early in the morning, I was transported by ambulance 32
miles from my house in Napili to the emergency room at Maui Memorial
Hospital. The long ride to the hospital through very light traffic
took probably 40 extremely painful minutes, but it seemed like hours!
An ambulance stationed at the Napili Fire Station could have taken me
to emergency care at the Lahaina Civic Center or Pulelehua in a few
minutes! Mahalo to the very efficient Lahaina ambulance crew, the
incredible emergency room staff at Maui Memorial (especially Nurse David),
the super nurses in the hospital's Lanai North wing (especially Nurses
Matt & Marshall), and to the KIDNEY KING, Kaiser urologist Dr. Todd
Hoekstra.
MIKE FOLEY, Maui County Planning Director
Nov 29, 2005, Maui News
WEST MAUI NEEDS AN ACUTE CARE CENTER
My hat's off to Joe Pluta, West Maui Taxpayers
Association and everyone else involved with supporting the West Maui
Hospital. Like everyone else, I have a story. I remember driving
at 3 a.m. to Maui Memorial with kidney stones. I would rather be shot
than make that drive in that condition again. It's a no-brainer to have
an acute care center in West Maui. Build it and they will come.
DAVE MATTHEWS, Lahaina
October 5, 2005, Maui News
A DISASTER WOULD REQUIRE MORE HOSPITAL FACILITIES
It seems as if Maui residents and visitors
alike can benefit tremendously from having more than one acute-care
hospital on the island. It seems particularly wise to consider more
hospitals given the devastating fallout of the recent hurricane disasters,
and the lack of emergency medical support in the immediate aftermath.
What happened in the Gulf Coast twice, could just as easily happen in
Hawaii, and having additional hospitals to rely on is just good common
sense. The current hospital provides care to the best of its ability,
but wouldn't its services also be enhanced by having two other hospitals
to share the load? I was a patient at Maui Memorial Medical Center last
summer and have seen first hand how overcrowded and understaffed the
current hospital is. I waited hours for assistance in the emergency
room, not because the doctors were slow, but because there was no room
in the facility. What options do people in West Maui have if they
need emergency medical assistance, only to make their way across the
island to Maui Memorial and wait outside the door hoping to get in?
It seems that hedging our bets with a West Maui community hospital facility
and the Malulani Health and Medical Center in Kihei is just good common
sense.
Lori Okimura Wailuku
Dec. 8, 2005, Lahaina News
DOCTOR ASKS, HOW MUCH IS A LIFE WORTH?
I read the article on the need for a West Maui
hospital in complete dismay. Trying to improve healthcare on West Maui
is becoming as difficult as building the Lahaina Bypass. The task force
reported that 2,464 ambulance calls were made from June 2002 to 2003,
and that 1,278 were considered minor. Let's think a little about the
other 1,186 calls that weren't so minor. That's more than three per
day who had to take the "35-minute" drive to the other side. With the
constantly increasing road congestion, not to mention road closures
for fires and accidents, this quoted "35-minute" ride will become more
and more life-threatening in the next few years. Is it all about money?
A basic, 24-hour ER was quoted as costing $3,200 per day. That's about
14 cents per West Side resident per day, or little over a million a
year. "The Hawaii Legislature appropriated $1 million this year to help
the West Side with its healthcare facility needs." Let's use that to
get what's needed, and I don't mean another study.
The article also stated that Maui Medical Group
and Kaiser provide urgent care in West Maui until 5 p.m. Now it seems
to me that I see the ambulance heading to the other side quite often
during the daytime. I guess the urgent care on the West Side isn't exactly
the same as having an emergency room. The study doesn't address the
need for hospital beds and/or long term care, the burden on family and
friends who have to travel to the other side to be with their loved
ones, or the growing and aging of the population.
It goes back to talking about money and claims
that we can't sustain a hospital at this "POINT IN TIME." Sounds like
the Lahaina Bypass all over again. WMTA hospital plans make more sense
The West Maui Taxpayers Association plan for a hospital is a much more
rational plan than the one proposed by Maui Memorial Medical Center.
The site of the hospital will be in close proximity to the Kaanapali
block of resorts as well as close to Lahaina itself. All the proposed
plans for housing are within Lahaina (mauka of the Honoapiilani Highway)
or north of Lahaina. That way it will be equidistant from most neighborhoods
and access will be by four-lane highway. The proposed MMMC plan is way
out of reach from the Lahaina area, accessible only by two-lane highway.
The 30-35 bed long-term health care facility will not require a full-time
resident doctor like a hospital does. The emergency facility will have
to be staffed by rotating members of the hospital itself. It will ultimately
serve for unloading routine emergencies from the main hospital and to
triage serious cases to be transferred to the main hospital. The real,
immediate life-threatening emergencies that require a higher degree
of medical care are probably only 10-15 percent of the other real emergencies
that require immediate doctor care on the spot. The only convenient
access to MMMC's planned location would be for those living from Napili
to Kapalua. With all due respect to all people living in that area,
there will be more of a demand for health care from the Lahaina and
Kaanapali areas.
Dan Stockhammer, M.D. Lahaina
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