Kona Community Hospital in Kealakekua, Hawaii, will relocate based on population, market demand, anticipated market share growth, and financial considerations, according to the hospital's 2024 strategic plan, which was finalized in May, but published June 7.
The hospital has been a fixture in the community for over 100 years, but the facility's last major renovations and construction were completed in 1974, according to the strategy document. In total, the project could cost between $544 million and $653 million.
"Kona Community Hospital’s current facility is nearly 50 years old," Kona Community Hospital's former regional CEO, Jim Lee, stated in 2022 during testimony to the state about funding for the facility's relocation and construction.
"The hospital's aging infrastructure has major deficiencies, with many critical systems in urgent need of repair and renovation," Mr. Lee said in the testimony. "We struggle almost daily with the very real potential that one system failure or another could shut down hospital operations."
Two possible locations have since been identified for the site of Kona Community Hospital's future home, both about 20–30 minutes north of its current location. Both options have space for additional expansions as necessary, 40–50 years down the road as well.
Once a construction site is finalized, Kona Community Hospital 2.0 will integrate the co-location of ambulatory and hospital services, add a cardiac catheter lab, expand chemo infusion space to assist more cancer patients, add beds to increase capacity to care for short-term acute patients, feature a freestanding emergency department, and more.
"Relocating the hospital and adding more physicians will allow patients to receive healthcare at the right place at the right time," the strategic plan explains. "Relocating the current hospital to North Kona promotes greater access to a larger portion of the West Hawaii population and expands services to improve healthcare. Access to services will also be improved by building a scalable and integrated medical group closer to the West Hawaii population."
The ambulatory center is slated to open in 2030 and the hospital after it in 2035.