THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

52

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE RESOLUTION

 

urging the Department of Health to assist in the reestablishment of the Child and Adolescent Mental health unit, known as the Molokini unit, at Maui Memorial Medical Center, in order to promote a local system of care on the island of Maui based on the Hawaii CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SYSTEM PROGRAM principles and consistent with the mandates of the 1997 Felix Consent Decree.

 

WHEREAS, the Molokini unit of Maui Memorial Medical Center, which provides inpatient psychiatric and mental health crisis services for children and adolescents, closed its doors on July 1, 2004, leaving Maui families and their children in crisis, stranded and forced to seek help on the island of Oahu; and

WHEREAS, on March 8, 1994, a class action lawsuit was filed in federal District Court on behalf of all children and adolescents from birth to age twenty with disabilities who reside in Hawaii and who are eligible for and in need of educational and mental health services but are not receiving services; and

WHEREAS, on May 24, 1994, the court concluded that the State had failed to provide adequate mental health services necessary to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Act and section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act; and

WHEREAS, the State was required to create a system of care following the Hawaii child and adolescent system program principles; and

WHEREAS, a part of the local system of care included establishment of local community children's councils to afford parents, community members, and local service providers like Maui Memorial Medical Center a means to develop effective community partnerships; and

WHEREAS, the Molokini unit, which opened in January, 1996, was part of the response to community needs and concerns for an array of mental health services for children and adolescents; and

WHEREAS, in order to reopen the Molokini unit, a psychiatrist specializing in child and adolescent care must be recruited; and

WHEREAS, such recruitment has been hindered by limited back up in the community with private physicians refusing to take calls at the Maui Memorial Medical Center without compensation; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Health compensates psychiatrists who take calls to treat adult patients; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, that the Department of Health is urged to assist the Maui Memorial Medical Center in reopening the Molokini unit by compensating private child and adolescent psychiatrists who take calls at Maui Memorial Medical Center to enhance the recruitment and retention of a child and adolescent psychiatrist hospitalist; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is further urged to reallocate existing funds to compensate physicians taking calls in this area so that the Molokini unit can be opened expeditiously; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, the Chief Executive Officer of the Maui Memorial Medical Center, and the Executive Director of the Mental Health Association of Maui.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services