Report Title:

Community Health Centers; Appropriation

Description:

Appropriates funds for emergency medical services at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center (WCCHC).

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2604

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE WAIANAE COAST COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH CENTER.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that community health centers and clinics provide much needed, high quality primary health care services to Hawaii's rural communities. These health centers are safety net providers of quality primary care services to all, on a sliding scale, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. These facilities include the Kahuku Hospital on Oahu, the Molokai General Hospital, and the Hana Community Health Center on Maui among others. To cover the operational costs of providing quality care, community health centers generally rely on funding from a number of sources including federal and state funding, as well as from private grants.

The legislature further finds that the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center (WCCHC) is of particular concern. The forty thousand residents of Waianae, Oahu, due to their isolated location, rely heavily on the emergency medical services of the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, as the nearest emergency room is twenty miles away at St. Francis-West. The Waianae health center has only one ambulance and a twenty-four hour emergency room. The lack of resources has considerable consequences for Waianae residents and visitors alike. The twenty-four-hour emergency room at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center may be closed unless continued legislative support is received.

The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to cover operating costs of the twenty-four-hour emergency room at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1,006,981, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2004-2005, for emergency services at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.

SECTION 3. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of health for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2004.

INTRODUCED BY:

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