The East Hawaii Region of the Hawaii Health Systems Corp will take over management of the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home from Avalon Health Care, the Tribune-Herald has learned.
Mayor Harry Kim said he received word of the management change this afternoon from Gov. David Ige.
Specific details about the transition were not immediately available.
A Hilo Medical Center spokeswoman declined to comment.
Both Yukio Okutsu and HMC are part of the HHSC East Hawaii Region.
Kim on Monday called for the removal of Avalon Health Care as the facility’s management company as the veterans home grapples with an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak that began in late August and in which 71 residents and 35 employees have tested positive for the virus, and 26 residents have died.
A five-year contract signed by Avalon and HHSC went into effect Dec. 1, 2017.
A full story can be found in Saturday’s edition of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.