Press Releases: Hawaii
April 20, 2008
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii Unveils New 176,000 Square-Foot Wing at Its Moanalua Medical Center Campus in Celebration of Its 50th Anniversary
HONOLULU – Celebrating 50 years of serving the health care needs of the people of Hawaii, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii commemorated the opening of a new wing today at its Moanalua Medical Center with a blessing and tours of the new facility. The six-story wing encompasses 176,000 square feet and includes additional patient beds, a new labor and delivery section with expanded mother and baby suites, an emergency department (ED) three times its current size, eight additional operating rooms, a clinic lab and blood bank, and an educational conference center open to the community. The wing has been designed with green technology, reducing environmental impact through recycling and sustainable architecture and landscaping.
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii is investing a total of $168.8 million in this two-phase project that begins with the $141.7 million new wing. Phase II includes renovating 95,000 square feet of existing space at the medical center. This is the first major renovation since the medical center opened in 1985. Upon completion of phase I and II, an additional 68 patient beds for a total of 318 beds total will be included (24 percent increase).
"The new wing and planned renovations are part of a strategic plan that will enable our organization to meet the community's growing needs for state-of-the-art health care services," said Janet Liang, Hawaii Region president. "This project represents one of the ways that we are reinvesting our members' dollars to give them more options for their total health needs. Our Moanalua campus represents a place where a holistic approach to care can be found through education, preventive services and treatment for illness. Physicians, employees and patients are excited by the new services and facilities."
Highlights of the new wing include:
- More spacious and aesthetically pleasing patient treatment areas
- More private patient rooms with "home like" design
- New emergency department almost tripled in physical size
- Eight additional operating rooms
- More outpatient operating room space
- A new educational conference center for use by Hawaii's medical and general communities
- State-of-the-art security equipment
"The building is designed to provide members with a welcoming environment of light, nature and comfort to help fulfill the physical and emotional needs of patients and their families. A key design feature is private patient rooms and special family spaces that allow loved ones to remain close by, a contributing factor in a patient’s recovery and overall health," said Executive Medical Director Geoffrey Sewell, MD.
Design elements conducive to a patient's recovery include patient rooms with warmer furnishings that depart from more traditional sterile environments seen in hospitals of the past, and independent thermostats in rooms that patients can directly control.
"Our founder, Henry J. Kaiser, was known for many projects in Hawaii, but most proud of the health care system he founded for our community," said Liang. "If he were alive today, he would be extremely proud to know that his legacy continues to thrive in our growing state."
About Kaiser Permanente Hawaii
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, the state's largest and most experienced health maintenance organization, is celebrating 50 years of providing quality care and health coverage to the people of Hawaii. Its 4,400 employees and more than 410 doctors are dedicated to serving its members on Oahu, Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai.
