Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente's Hawaii branch will spend more than $50 million on three Maui County hospitals, effective July 1, according to the Honolulu Star Advertiser.
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii will pay to expand services, update technology improve the quality of patient care at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital & Clinic and Lanai Community Hospital when it assumes control of the three hospitals in the biggest privatization effort in Hawaii's history, according to the report.
"The public is generally excited and anxious for this transition to take place, not necessarily because Kaiser's going to become this great thing on Day 1, but because we've been in this process for so long," said Avery Chumbley, who serves as Maui region board chairman for the hospitals, according to the report. "This is a significant transaction. It's transformational in many ways because this is the single largest move from public employees to private employees in the history of the state."
Kaiser has promised to keep the hospitals open to the public, including non-Kaiser plan holders and physicians, and operate as community hospitals, according to the report. At the same time it will take over the state's responsibility to cover operating losses that total more than $30 million annually.