A public hearing by the state House Health Committee is scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday at Kona Community Hospital in Kealakekua.
A public hearing by the state House Health Committee is scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday at Kona Community Hospital in Kealakekua.
For fiscal year 2014, the state-run hospital system requested $150 million in financial assistance from the state and was appropriated $111.4 million. The shortfall in funding has forced HHSC to begin cost cutting measures and re-evaluate its initiatives on all islands. The system has implemented layoffs across the islands and cuts in one service area on the island of Maui. The system and the regional boards continue to work on their plans and implementation of these plans to address the shortfall.
Invitees to the informational briefing portion of the hearing include: Jay Kreuzer, CEO, HHSC West Hawaii Region; Dean Herzog, CFO, HHSC West Hawaii Region; and Bill Cliff, regional board chair, HHSC West Hawaii Region.
“Our goal is to have public hearings across the system to understand the operational plans and impacts of the shortfalls within each region. Following these public hearings, we can come together in the 2015 legislative session to work towards finding solutions to address the financial challenges while continuing to provide the safety net services the system is supposed to provide,” Rep. Della Au Belatti (D-Oahu), the House Health Committee Chair, said in a statement. “There is the recognition that HHSC is a statewide safety net system, especially for rural communities and the neighbor islands. We need to understand what the true costs are and then have the political will to sustain these services going forward and/or find partnerships that will allow for access to these services by all of our residents.”