BFED-103 Reso 22-85 RESOLUTION 22-85, DISPOSITION OF REAL PROPERTY TO THE MAUI HEALTH FOUNDATION AND FOR WAIVER OF OUTSTANDING REAL PROPERTY TAXES (BFED-103)
Aloha Chair Lee, Vice-Chair Rawlins-Fernandez, and Councilmembers.
I am Cory Lynn Vicens, and a Board Director on the Maui Health Foundation.
My family has been blessed to call Maui home for 35 years and to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world that attracts visitors globally, but we often can’t attract or retain skilled medical professionals for one reason, a place for them to call “home.”
I am asking you to support Resolution No. 22-85 because, Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place in the County of Maui that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and our visitors, and they do so for any who come through their doors. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. They do not have the time to delay treatment or the strength to make the trip to another island to receive care.
In 2014 while traveling, my mother was admitted to Yale University Hospital, a top medical facility in the nation with state-of-the-art equipment and staff, with a life-threatening condition. If the situation was reversed and it was upon arriving home in Maui that this occurred it is likely she
would not have survived, because the hospital did not have the physicians or the equipment to treat her condition which would have meant transporting her to Oahu. She did not have that time. Seven years later, that is not the case, because the hospital recruited a top vascular doctor and purchased equipment that is saving lives every day. But it took great effort to make that happen. We aren’t just recruiting the physician but their family too which means, finding a “home” for more than one person.
Today, the hospital is short more than 160 physicians (in specialties ranging from urology to orthopedics) and 75 registered nurses, despite hiring every single graduate from Maui College, every year this was compounded by the pandemic over the past two years. In total the hospital
currently has over 400 vacancies.
Why is this? Because the greatest obstacle to the recruitment and retention of physicians and other health care professionals is the lack of available and affordable housing on Maui, thus making health care even more challenging for our healthcare system.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
Passing Reso No. 22-85 will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the healthcare needs in our community, allow Maui-born medical professionals who want to return home to practice medicine to do so, and retain current Maui care providers looking to purchase
their first home on Maui.
Having a place to live and call home is one of the most basic and important human needs there is. How can we ensure the quality of life for all who call Maui home if the medical professionals we need here can’t afford to live here?
Please support the Maui Lani Reso 22-85!
Mahalo nui for your consideration,
Cory Vicens
Board Director, Maui Health Foundation
My name is Julie Hew, and I ask you to support the Maui Lani Resolution 22-85.
I serve as the physician liaison and manage physician recruitment for Maui Health.
Compared to other areas of Hawaii, Maui’s underserved service area population experiences greater challenges to healthcare access and services. The existing shortage of physicians across an array of specialties such as Family Practice, Gastroenterology, Urology, and General Surgery is a key factor causing limited access. Physician recruitment is no small feat and will only become more challenging as the nationwide provider shortage grows.
Availability of housing is the most common barrier Maui Health faces in recruitment efforts. Maui’s steep real estate prices, lack of housing inventory, and limited rental options repeatedly diminish our ability to recruit new physicians. Physician candidates consistently choose positions with lower cost of living in mainland markets which negatively affects Maui Health’s ability to provide high-quality, accessible healthcare.
Those who care for our community need to live in our community. How can we ensure our housing market doesn’t continue to outprice new physicians? Having a supply of homes will help ease the need for market-priced housing for our medical providers Maui desperately needs.
Help us help our physicians find a place to call home. Support the Maui Lani resolution.
Hello, my name is Karen Christenson and I am a Maui resident.
My family moved to Lahaina in 1963 when I was a year old. I recall the days of going to the Plantation Clinic on Front Street, so I have witnessed first-hand the improvement of our medical facilities on Maui.
Fast forward to 2022 and our health care community is facing a very serious problem and are unable to find a place to live here. While I understand the problem is not only in our health care community, but our entire community, I feel it is imperative to do something so that our community can be well taken care of. This includes our visitors who are our biggest segment of emergency room patients at Maui Memorial Medical Center. Access to health care is extremely important to a strong visitor economy.
That is why I am asking you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and our visitors, and we do so for any who come through our doors. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. They do not have the time to delay treatment or the strength to make the trip to another island to receive care.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is short 160 physicians in specialties ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery, orthopedics and urology.
Imagine receiving a positive cancer result and being told you will have a consult with your doctor in 6 weeks! This is what happened to someone in my family recently.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is short 75 registered nurses, despite hiring every single graduate of the UHMC, every year. Recently, FEMA nurses had to turn down assignments to Maui because they couldn’t find anywhere to live on Maui. Our Maui nurses are all angels for working endlessly through this pandemic. But wouldn’t it be nice for them to get a break, like nurses in other areas?
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
• Those who care for our community need to live in our community. Having a supply of homes will help ease the need for market-priced housing for the medical providers Maui desperately needs.
• This will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community, allow Maui-born medical professionals who wish to return home to practice medicine to do so, and retain current Maui care providers looking to purchase their first home on Maui.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution. Thank you.
Hello, my name is Karen Williams, and I am a resident of Maui. I volunteer my time on the Foundation Board of Maui Memorial Medical Center (Maui Health). The Foundation Board raises money to help support the health and wellness of our community and visitors. Since we are on an island, it is imperative that we have World Class Healthcare available to all residents and visitors!
A place to live is one of the most basic and important human needs there is. How can
we ensure the quality of life for all who call Maui home if the medical professionals we
need here can’t afford to live here? That is why I am begging you to support the Maui Lani resolution!
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care! We need to be able to Save Lives on Maui! For those with critical needs, there is no other option, as many do not have the luxury of time or can afford to seek treatment on the mainland or another island. The ER at Maui Memorial is the second busiest in the state of Hawaii!
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently short 160 physicians in specialties
ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery,
orthopedics, and urology. The hospital is also short 75 registered nurses, despite hiring every single graduate of the University of Hawaii Maui College, every year. The number one difficulty in recruiting healthcare workers to Maui is the inability to be able to afford to purchase a home.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
The Maui Lani Housing Initiative will enable us to:
• Attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community
• Allow Maui born professionals who wish to return home to practice medicine
• Retain current Maui care providers who are looking to purchase their first home on Maui
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution. It is a Win-Win!
Hello, my name is Lizbeth Luck and I am the Food & Beverage Director at Makena Golf & Beach Club,
A place to live is one of the most basic and important human needs there is. How can we ensure the quality of life for all who call Maui home if the medical professionals we need here can’t afford to live here?
That is why I am asking you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and our visitors, and we do so for any who come through our doors. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. They do not have the time to delay treatment or the strength to make the trip to another island to receive care.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently short 160 physicians in specialties ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery, orthopedics and urology.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui. I myself became pregnant last July and was told during a global pandemic I would need to fly to Oahu to see a high risk specialist for my Advanced Maternal Age ultrasounds. I declined this due to the idea of going anywhere near an airport during that time which caused a lot of anxiety and stress. The specialist flew over once during my pregnancy and I was able to schedule an appointment but this causes massive stress on mother’s who are already considered high risk and worried for their unborn. Being able to visit our only major hospital on island for something along these lines would be very beneficial.
We have the facilities and the financial, community and professional support to meet the most critical healthcare needs, but without housing options, physicians and nurses either won’t come or aren’t able to stay. I myself cannot currently find a home on island to purchase with a substantial salary and perfect credit, as you know this is one of the most difficult housing markets to jump into.
Those who care for our community need to live in our community. Having a supply of homes will help ease the need for market-priced housing for the medical providers Maui desperately needs.
This will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community, allow Maui-born medical professionals who wish to return home to practice medicine to do so, and retain current Maui care providers looking to purchase their first home on Maui.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
I have been an emergency room physician on Maui the last 20 years. Despite having lived on Maui my entire life, finding an affordable home even 20 years ago was formidable. Now with so many local doctors carrying substantial loan burdens after finishing medical school and residency, adding a million dollar home to the equation will prevent the best and brightest from practicing here. Even for some of my colleagues here many years, they are still forced to rent. With reimbursement comparatively low in Hawaii and cost of living substantially higher than the rest of the country, more physicians and nurses will leave. What this program will do is benefit those recent medical grads who have large loan burdens. Those are the people we need to attract. Doctors and nurses that can put down roots, raise a family and become a stable work-force. Healthcare on Maui will not survive with locums, part-time and semi-retired care givers. If you care about healthcare on Maui, support this proposal.
Aloha,
My name is Marian Horikawa-Barth and I am the Chief Nurse Executive at Maui Memorial Medical Center.
I am a Maui girl and have been working at Maui Memorial for 18 years. I spent many years living and working on the Mainland, and came home to raise my family. There is no place like home, like Maui. We live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth that draws visitors from around the world, but we often cannot attract or retain skilled medical professionals for one reason. A place to call home. Finding a place to live on Maui is extremely difficult. Nurses that have good jobs and a steady income are struggling to find housing they can afford.
That is why I am asking you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and visitors, and we do so for everyone that comes through our doors. Our emergency department is the second busiest in the state seeing more than 41,000 patients in 2021. We offer award level cardiac and stroke care, as well as excellent trauma, mother-baby, medical/surgical and behavioral health care. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. These folks do not have the time to delay treatment or look for life saving care on another island.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center has 75 vacant registered nurse positions, despite hiring 80 plus University of Hawaii Maui College nursing program graduates over the last 3 years. This island, state and national nursing shortage stresses our Maui nurses that are already stretched and exhausted with the pandemic.
The nursing and healthcare provider shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui. The Maui Lani Resolution will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community. Please support Maui-born medical professionals who wish to return home to care for our Ohana and retain current Maui nurses looking to purchase their first home on Maui.
My name is Mary M. Hew and I am currently a Maui Health Board Member. Prior to joining the board, I was the Kaiser Permanente Clinic Operations Director for Maui and the Big Island. I have been a been a health care professional on Maui for 35 years.
From my perspective our island’s biggest health care challenge is recruiting and retaining qualified health care providers to our beautiful island.
There are many obstacles to relocating to Maui including employment opportunities for spouses, separation from family on the mainland, educational and cultural offerings and housing.
Resolution #22-85 addresses this critical housing obstacle for physicians. Yes, even physicians are struggling to afford Maui housing. Younger physicians often have substantial medical school loans, and may not have equity from a current home to access.
This resolution is an innovative community solution to this significant community physician recruitment problem. The proximity of Maui Lani to the hospital is a huge benefit for the physicians on call. It allows them to get to the patient needing specialty care quickly…you and I might be that patient.
This is a unique opportunity for you as a council member to make a big difference. Please approve Resolution #22-85 so that we can attract and retain the necessary medical professionals to treat us and our families in the years to come during our moment of greatest need.
My name is Melinda Sweany and I am the Chief Development Officer of Maui Health Foundation.
Supporters of this resolution have shared stories of healthcare workers who would welcome the opportunity to move to Maui and work at Maui Memorial but are unable to do so because of the prohibitive cost of housing. But that’s only part of the story. This housing crunch also impacts healthcare professionals who call Maui home, some of whom have lived their whole lives here. For example, Maui Memorial recently lost a valued employee who was born and raised here. Because of the high cost of housing, she could no longer afford to live here and support her family. She and her husband and two kids moved to Nevada, 2,500 miles away from family, friends and home.
So not only are we unable to bring people here to offset the shortage of healthcare workers, we are losing vital, lifelong community members who have filled those roles.
As the only medical center on the island, how can Maui Memorial meet the demand for services if the nurses and other healthcare professionals we need here can’t live here?
Voting in support of Resolution 22-85 is how you can literally help address the healthcare needs of our community, by creating a way for Maui Memorial to bring back professionals Hawaii born and raised, and also recruit from the mainland, to Maui.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution. Thank you.
As a not-for-profit organization, Maui Health has a mission is to provide high-quality care to all residents and visitors, regardless of their health insurance coverage or ability to pay. Through all the challenges of the last two years, our nurses and care providers were stretched thin,
working long shifts and hours to meet changing needs, and I am proud of how our staff rose to meet obstacles with compassion, flexibility and professionalism.
Unfortunately, we remain stretched thin. Not because of a surge in illness, but a surge in housing costs. We are unable to recruit and retain the healthcare providers we need due to a dire lack in housing that is accessibly priced for them to be able to move and live here.
Those who care for our community need to live in our community. There is nothing more important in this community than having people on Maui provide care but lack of housing has had a serious impact our ability to hire essential staff. This shortage directly impacts Maui
residents' access to critical, life-changing or life-saving care when they need it. For the first time, our biggest obstacle we have in finding staff to care for patients on Maui is housing. We have had current staff leave the island because homes they are renting are being sold. Staff
relocating from the mainland are paid extremely well for temporary housing, but they are unable to find short-term housing. We have also for the first time had physicians who provide critical life-saving services turn us down because they are unable to find adequate housing.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution. Having this market-priced housing set aside for healthcare professionals will allow us to attract and retain those most needed to meet the healthcare needs in our community. The beauty of Maui and its people is a huge draw when we recruit, but without housing options, the nurses, other care providers and even physicians we need literally can't afford to come Maui. And our community cannot afford to go without them.
I ask you to please approve resolution 22-85. Thank you.
My name is Nancy Leis Overton and I am Vice President of the Dorvin D. Leis Co., Inc. I also sit on the board of the Maui Health Foundation.
We have the facilities and the financial, community and professional support to meet the most critical healthcare needs, but without housing options, physicians and nurses either won’t come or aren’t able to stay.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently short 160 physicians in specialties ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery, orthopedics, and urology. My son was born and raised here in Maui, he graduated from medical school in 2016 from John A. Burns School of Medicine.
He went on to do his residency at NYU Langone Health for anesthesiology. He would love to return to the islands, but housing is one of the issues that will keep him from coming back.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
By allowing this resolution to happen it will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community, allow Maui-born medical professionals who wish to return home to practice medicine to do so, and retain current Maui care providers looking to purchase their first home on Maui.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
My name is Nane Aluli. I am a resident of Wailuku and a Native Hawaiian descendant of a well know family from Lahaina, the Farden family.
We are very fortunate to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, the island of Maui. However, you realize as I do, that the healthcare facilities here are challenged with a shortage of professional staff, doctors and nurses. This shortage is being exacerbated by the cost and availability of housing.
That is why I am asking you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and our visitors, and we do so for all who come through our doors. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. They do not have the time to delay treatment or the strength to make the trip to another island to receive care.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently short 160 physicians in specialties ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery, orthopedics and urology.
In addition, MMMC is short 75 registered nurses, despite hiring every single graduate of the University of Hawaii Maui College, every year.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
Those who care for our community need to live in our community. Having a supply of homes will help ease the need for market-priced housing for the medical providers Maui desperately needs.
This will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community, allow Maui-born medical professionals who wish to return home to practice medicine to do so, and retain current Maui care providers looking to purchase their first home on Maui.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani Resolution 22-85.
Testimonial Regarding the Allotment of Housing for Medical Workers.
Submitted by Dr. & Mrs. Paul & Jael Mazur
heesook1@hotmail.com
The absolute main problem with recruiting and retaining doctors and nurses here on Maui is the astronomical cost and shortage of housing. My
husband was recently recruited to become the only full time heart surgeon on the island. He was working on a temporary contract basis for most of 2021. During that time countless lives were saved due to the fact patients were not required to be flown to Oahu for life saving heart surgery. He was offered and accepted a permanent position to be the only heart surgeon on the entire island of Maui.
We have spent the last year attempting to purchase a home here to relocate only to be outbid by cash buyers from the mainland. Most of whom
primarily use the home as a third or fourth vacation house. It happened so many times that I honestly have lost count. One seller told us not even to submit an offer unless it was all cash. After months of being out bid or turned away we decided to accept a job on the mainland. The people of Maui are now left again with no full time heart surgeon. This affects me more than just a job opportunity because my immediate family lives in Napili. When my sister had an emergency C section she was airlifted to Honolulu. Last year she had to fly herself over to
Oahu for a double mastectomy. Due to covid restrictions she had to do it all alone. This type of medical care for the residents of this island, my family included is unacceptable and unsafe.
Not only do the residents of Maui get short changed on health care but there is other collateral damage. I personally have had a family friend suffer a heart attack while vacationing here. He had a massive heart attack on the beach and died here. About 8 years ago my family was on a flight here from California when a passenger had a massive heart en route on the plane. Thankfully he recovered and was able to be stabilized before he flew back to the mainland to have surgery.
More often than not, the physicians that are recruited to come here will bring their spouses and children. Many physicians are married to physicians, nurses or other professionals that are also needed on island. I am by trade an attorney but was looking to get my teaching credentials when we relocated here. I was interested in teaching elementary school at one of the many public schools
on island in need of teachers. (Which is all of them.) My sisters’ children are at Kam III in Lahaina. They constantly lose teachers mid year due to financial reasons.
Affordable attainable housing here on island will most definitely attract and retain much needed medical professionals and their families who more often than not bring value to the island. I fully understand that land conservation is a fundamental priority on Maui. But I also believe preserving and serving the health of the residents of Maui is just as important. Maui is not just the land, it’s the people. Investing in the health and well being of the population of the island by ensuring attainable healthcare has to be a top priority. The recruitment and attainment of doctors and nurses via affordable housing is an investment in every single man, woman and child on Maui.
Hello, my name is Rebecca Armato and I am the Manager of Physician Services at Maui Health, responsible for recruiting physicians to relocate their full time medical practice to Maui. I have been working to recruit physicians to Maui since January 2019. To date, I have recruited 15 physicians to relocate to Maui and open their full-time medical practice. I have lost almost as many during the recruitment process for one reason or another, but availability of affordable housing is one of those reasons.
• We live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth that draws visitors from around the world, but it is very difficult to attract physicians to relocate here and call it home due to 2 issues, Housing and the Hawaii GET tax.
The housing issue is why I am asking you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and our visitors, and we do so for any who come through our doors. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. Patients do not have the time to delay treatment or the strength and family support to make the trip to another island to receive care. Without physicians, MMMC is only a building.
• Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently short 160 physicians in specialties ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery, gastroenterology and urology. “2 Physicians I worked hard to recruit have been putting offers on multiple homes since opening their practice last fall. They continue to lose out to bids of cash above asking price, coming from off island. They will continue to look, but it is disheartening when they are also focused on building their practice and meeting the needs of our community.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
• Those who care for our community need to live in our community. Having a supply of homes near the hospital will help ease the need for market-priced housing for the medical providers Maui desperately needs.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Dear Members of Maui County Council:
Hello, my name is Bob Takamatsu and I am a member of the Maui Health Foundation board of directors. Maui Health Foundation is a non-profit organization which has provided support to health care on Maui and Lanai for the past 25 years. A mission of the Foundation is to help provide the people on Maui exceptional medical care and, to meet that mission, it is essential that we be able to recruit and retain excellent medical professionals.
One of the challenges that the Foundation has faced is that many of the medical professionals we seek to hire have difficulty finding housing on Maui. To meet the goal of having available a safe, -convenient and comfortable living environment to doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, we need your support of Resolution 22-85. The support of the Resolution will greatly enhance the quality of medical professionals who we will be able to recruit and retain for Maui Memorial Hospital.
I was born at Maui Memorial Hospital, was raised on Maui and have family and friends who live on Maui. I believe in the mission of the Maui Health Foundation; I believe in the efforts of the County of Maui in its support of exceptional medical care; and I believe that, with your help, we can work collaboratively in making medical care on Maui as great as it can possibly be.
Please support this unique partnership between Maui County's ownership of 16 Maui Lani lots and the Maui Health Foundation. The need for housing is urgent across the board, but especially for our health care providers. These homes will guarantee a home for physicians and health care specialists that our island urgently needs. As a Hospital Foundation board member, I have come across many challenges in our community and never thought that "housing" would be one of them. Housing for healthcare will help our entire community.
My name is Wade Ebersole, and I am the Chief Operating Officer at Maui Health. I feel so fortunate to live and work on Maui. I am also grateful to work for Maui Health, which provides critical core services that allows Maui to be a thriving place to live, work and visit. Like most industries, the healthcare industry is struggling deeply with how to plug the pukas in our workforce. These gaps are a result of a number of complex factors that are largely attributed to the pandemic. We have been laser focused on a commitment to our community during the past two years and now we face another stark crisis, a housing shortage that is making retention and recruitment of Maui born medical professionals, very difficult.
Housing is the number issue cited for candidates who decline an offer of employment.
As an anchor institution for Maui, we take great pride in our commitments to this community. Because of challenges that extend beyond our sphere of influence of control we are ill positioned to meet the growing demands for life saving treatments, from our aging community.
Working for Maui Health is a major commitment to the community, and everyone who works here wants to be apart making this a better place to live. These employees who dedicate so much should be able to own a home on Maui. I strongly support any resolution that makes this a reality. Including, having a supply of homes that are dedicated to healthcare professionals.
Thank you for your consideration, and your dedication to making a Maui a wonderful place to live.
To: Honorable Alice Lee, Chair and Members of the Maui County Council
From: Tamar Goodfellow, President, Maui Health Foundation
Re: Support for "CR 22-85, authorizing the disposition of real property to the Maui Health Foundation and for waiver of outstanding real property taxes”
Aloha Chair Lee, Vice Chair Rawlins-Fernandez and Council Members,
My name is Tamar Goodfellow. I serve as the volunteer President of the Maui Health Foundation, a 25 year old non profit organization whose sole mission is to support the highest quality of health care at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai.
My devotion to our hospital and to health care on our island stems from a personal passion to save lives here on Maui. With only one acute care hospital, Maui Memorial is the place that each of us, our family members, our friends, and our visitors will go in a life threatening medical emergency. I want it to be the best.
This is why I am asking for your support for the transfer of these lots.
* Each year our only hospital cares for more than 40,000 patients, including those on medicare, quest/medicaid, the underinsured and uninsured. No one is turned away.
* Maui Memorial has the second busiest emergency department in the state of Hawaii, second only to Queens.
* Quality of care directly correlates to Care Providers. Island wide, we are short hundreds of doctors, nurses, technicians and aides. This shortage of Care Providers is a growing issue nationwide, but Maui is particularly challenged with recruiting and retaining Care Providers. Right now the hospital is short staffed in every department.
* The single biggest barrier to recruiting and keeping Care Providers on Maui is the lack of housing at all income levels.
* The County of Maui owns 55 lots in Maui Lani, walking distance from the hospital. The Maui Health Foundation is asking for your support to transfer in fee simple, 16 of those lots to be held in perpetuity by the Foundation for Care Provider housing.
* Our program will be modeled after Na Hale O Maui. The land will be held in perpetuity by the Foundation. Homes will be built by a home builder, and sold to care providers at leasehold rates, meaning less the value of the land, and the restriction that future buyers must also be care providers. This makes the homes, first, available nearby the hospital, and second, attainable.
* All healthcare providers are eligible. (They do not need to be hospital employees). If applicants are below the 140 AMI, they will be directed to NHOM. If they are above 140 AMI, they will be asked to get pre-qualified for a mortgage and be part of the Foundation lottery.
* Selection criteria will be weighted by the following criteria: greatest community need (as determined by annual healthcare survey); Maui or Hawaii born Care Provider seeking to return home; current resident Care Provider seeking to purchase their first home.
* Home buyers will own the home and improvements, but not the land. They will pay a monthly leasehold fee, determined to cover the management costs of the program/property. (Though not yet finalized, we have begun a dialogue with Na Hale O Maui asking them to act as the property manager for the 16 Maui Health Foundation homes funded by the lease rent to not only cover their management costs but also further their mission.)
* There are deed restrictions. When a home owner sells, there will be a shared appreciation where the home owner will retain at least 50% of any equity in the home, (less the land value). The formula will be modeled after NHOM. Because the value of the land is deducted from any appreciation of the property, the price point for the homes can remain stable. The seller must sell to another qualified Care Provider.
* We have been asked why the County should support housing for Physicians and Nurses who earn a substantial salary, versus community members with greater financial need. Simply put, we need housing for everyone, but the ability to attract and retain Health Care Providers is becoming critical on Maui. Doctors may become wealthy over time, but initially have a difficult time qualifying for a mortgage because of their high education debt and lack of a guaranteed level of income, while they start and build their practice.
This property has a long and sordid history. Resolutions 22-84 and 22-85 are proposed as Phase 1, creating the opportunity to do something positive with the 33 lots that are not controversial, and address the critical need for workforce housing. Phase 2 includes 19 additional lots adjacent to Palama Street, that involve long standing issues (Wall, fill, drainage, etc.) that need to be resolved by engaging the Palama Street residents.
It should be noted however, that an existing archeological study conducted by Dr. Six shows no Iwi Kupuna sites on the property. In addition, the State Department of Health issued a letter stating that the mill mud used as fill on the lots has been tested and cleared for use, and finally, the County of Maui Department of Water has issued verification that water and meters are available for the 33 lots.
There is a critical need for housing for Care Providers that may save your life, or that of someone you love. I am happy to try and answer any questions you might have, but before I close, I would like to share a quote from Dr. Rafael Oania, a Board Certified Anesthesiologist, born and raised on Maui.
"It is a dream of mine to be able to come home to Maui to practice medicine. After years of training in New York City, I was ready to bring my talents back to Maui. However, the harsh reality of the housing crisis in Maui has steered me away from this dream. It’s sad to think that a well paid physician isn’t even able to afford or find an affordable home in Maui. It is a concern that not only affects the recruitment of physicians but the prosperity of the entire working class and families who are at risk of being unable to live a reasonable life on the island that they have called home for generations.”
Mahalo for considering the passage of Resolution 22-85.
My name is Cassie Chavez, and I am a Development Manager at Maui Health Foundation.
I was born and raised on Maui and have been blessed to call this island my home. As with many local families, I have had several family members cared for at Maui Memorial, and my four children were born here. From an early age, I realized how critical sufficient health care was to our well-being and survival: specialized physicians, surgeons, and nurses on the island to care for the needs of our community.
Growing up with aging grandparents, other family members, and now caring for my mother, I have experienced the emotional roller coaster of wondering if our island has the specialized physicians that my loved ones need when facing their health issues. We, of course, want the best care for them, so if we seek it off-island, who will travel with them and stay with them for their recovery? Who will take care of the family that we leave behind? How do we afford the financial burden of travel, accommodations, etc.? How will traveling and being away from home affect their healing process? To avoid this burden, we often kept our loved ones on the island but always wondered “what if” and “did we really do everything we could?” I would not wish it on anyone to go through this anguish for their loved ones over something so essential as health care.
Since working with the Foundation, I have experienced the excitement and relief of hearing about a new physician or a new specialty coming to Maui and the disappointment of learning that they moved back because of lack of housing. It is so disheartening to know that the physicians and nurses who leave their homes because of their desire to serve our community, embrace our culture, and put down roots, are leaving because they cannot find a home here among the community that they serve.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and visitors. Our emergency department is the second busiest in the state, seeing more than 41,000 patients last year alone. For those with the most critical needs, our local families and kupuna, there is often no other option. They do not have the time to delay treatment or look for lifesaving care on another island. Our families cannot shoulder the burden of the added costs of flying to the mainland, even outer island, for treatment. It takes a financial, physical, and emotional toll on the families of their loved ones.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center has 75 vacant registered nurse positions, despite hiring 80 plus University of Hawaii Maui College nursing program graduates over the last three years. This island, state, and national nursing shortage stresses our Maui nurses already stretched and exhausted with the pandemic.
We need to be part of a solution. That is why I am asking you to support this resolution.
Because healing at home surrounded by our ‘ohana is the best medicine.
We are in support of Resolution 22-85, in that it utilizes non-performing County assets in to benefit the Medical community on Maui; which is important to everyone.
Aloha Chair Lee, Vice-Chair Rawlins-Fernandez, and Councilmembers.
I am Cory Lynn Vicens, and a Board Director on the Maui Health Foundation.
My family has been blessed to call Maui home for 35 years and to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world that attracts visitors globally, but we often can’t attract or retain skilled medical professionals for one reason, a place for them to call “home.”
I am asking you to support Resolution No. 22-85 because, Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place in the County of Maui that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and our visitors, and they do so for any who come through their doors. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. They do not have the time to delay treatment or the strength to make the trip to another island to receive care.
In 2014 while traveling, my mother was admitted to Yale University Hospital, a top medical facility in the nation with state-of-the-art equipment and staff, with a life-threatening condition. If the situation was reversed and it was upon arriving home in Maui that this occurred it is likely she
would not have survived, because the hospital did not have the physicians or the equipment to treat her condition which would have meant transporting her to Oahu. She did not have that time. Seven years later, that is not the case, because the hospital recruited a top vascular doctor and purchased equipment that is saving lives every day. But it took great effort to make that happen. We aren’t just recruiting the physician but their family too which means, finding a “home” for more than one person.
Today, the hospital is short more than 160 physicians (in specialties ranging from urology to orthopedics) and 75 registered nurses, despite hiring every single graduate from Maui College, every year this was compounded by the pandemic over the past two years. In total the hospital
currently has over 400 vacancies.
Why is this? Because the greatest obstacle to the recruitment and retention of physicians and other health care professionals is the lack of available and affordable housing on Maui, thus making health care even more challenging for our healthcare system.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
Passing Reso No. 22-85 will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the healthcare needs in our community, allow Maui-born medical professionals who want to return home to practice medicine to do so, and retain current Maui care providers looking to purchase
their first home on Maui.
Having a place to live and call home is one of the most basic and important human needs there is. How can we ensure the quality of life for all who call Maui home if the medical professionals we need here can’t afford to live here?
Please support the Maui Lani Reso 22-85!
Mahalo nui for your consideration,
Cory Vicens
Board Director, Maui Health Foundation
Dear Maui County Council,
My name is Julie Hew, and I ask you to support the Maui Lani Resolution 22-85.
I serve as the physician liaison and manage physician recruitment for Maui Health.
Compared to other areas of Hawaii, Maui’s underserved service area population experiences greater challenges to healthcare access and services. The existing shortage of physicians across an array of specialties such as Family Practice, Gastroenterology, Urology, and General Surgery is a key factor causing limited access. Physician recruitment is no small feat and will only become more challenging as the nationwide provider shortage grows.
Availability of housing is the most common barrier Maui Health faces in recruitment efforts. Maui’s steep real estate prices, lack of housing inventory, and limited rental options repeatedly diminish our ability to recruit new physicians. Physician candidates consistently choose positions with lower cost of living in mainland markets which negatively affects Maui Health’s ability to provide high-quality, accessible healthcare.
Those who care for our community need to live in our community. How can we ensure our housing market doesn’t continue to outprice new physicians? Having a supply of homes will help ease the need for market-priced housing for our medical providers Maui desperately needs.
Help us help our physicians find a place to call home. Support the Maui Lani resolution.
Mahalo,
Julie
Hello, my name is Karen Christenson and I am a Maui resident.
My family moved to Lahaina in 1963 when I was a year old. I recall the days of going to the Plantation Clinic on Front Street, so I have witnessed first-hand the improvement of our medical facilities on Maui.
Fast forward to 2022 and our health care community is facing a very serious problem and are unable to find a place to live here. While I understand the problem is not only in our health care community, but our entire community, I feel it is imperative to do something so that our community can be well taken care of. This includes our visitors who are our biggest segment of emergency room patients at Maui Memorial Medical Center. Access to health care is extremely important to a strong visitor economy.
That is why I am asking you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and our visitors, and we do so for any who come through our doors. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. They do not have the time to delay treatment or the strength to make the trip to another island to receive care.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is short 160 physicians in specialties ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery, orthopedics and urology.
Imagine receiving a positive cancer result and being told you will have a consult with your doctor in 6 weeks! This is what happened to someone in my family recently.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is short 75 registered nurses, despite hiring every single graduate of the UHMC, every year. Recently, FEMA nurses had to turn down assignments to Maui because they couldn’t find anywhere to live on Maui. Our Maui nurses are all angels for working endlessly through this pandemic. But wouldn’t it be nice for them to get a break, like nurses in other areas?
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
• Those who care for our community need to live in our community. Having a supply of homes will help ease the need for market-priced housing for the medical providers Maui desperately needs.
• This will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community, allow Maui-born medical professionals who wish to return home to practice medicine to do so, and retain current Maui care providers looking to purchase their first home on Maui.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution. Thank you.
Karen Christenson
Hello, my name is Karen Williams, and I am a resident of Maui. I volunteer my time on the Foundation Board of Maui Memorial Medical Center (Maui Health). The Foundation Board raises money to help support the health and wellness of our community and visitors. Since we are on an island, it is imperative that we have World Class Healthcare available to all residents and visitors!
A place to live is one of the most basic and important human needs there is. How can
we ensure the quality of life for all who call Maui home if the medical professionals we
need here can’t afford to live here? That is why I am begging you to support the Maui Lani resolution!
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care! We need to be able to Save Lives on Maui! For those with critical needs, there is no other option, as many do not have the luxury of time or can afford to seek treatment on the mainland or another island. The ER at Maui Memorial is the second busiest in the state of Hawaii!
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently short 160 physicians in specialties
ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery,
orthopedics, and urology. The hospital is also short 75 registered nurses, despite hiring every single graduate of the University of Hawaii Maui College, every year. The number one difficulty in recruiting healthcare workers to Maui is the inability to be able to afford to purchase a home.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
The Maui Lani Housing Initiative will enable us to:
• Attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community
• Allow Maui born professionals who wish to return home to practice medicine
• Retain current Maui care providers who are looking to purchase their first home on Maui
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution. It is a Win-Win!
Many Mahalos!
Karen Williams
Hello, my name is Lizbeth Luck and I am the Food & Beverage Director at Makena Golf & Beach Club,
A place to live is one of the most basic and important human needs there is. How can we ensure the quality of life for all who call Maui home if the medical professionals we need here can’t afford to live here?
That is why I am asking you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and our visitors, and we do so for any who come through our doors. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. They do not have the time to delay treatment or the strength to make the trip to another island to receive care.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently short 160 physicians in specialties ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery, orthopedics and urology.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui. I myself became pregnant last July and was told during a global pandemic I would need to fly to Oahu to see a high risk specialist for my Advanced Maternal Age ultrasounds. I declined this due to the idea of going anywhere near an airport during that time which caused a lot of anxiety and stress. The specialist flew over once during my pregnancy and I was able to schedule an appointment but this causes massive stress on mother’s who are already considered high risk and worried for their unborn. Being able to visit our only major hospital on island for something along these lines would be very beneficial.
We have the facilities and the financial, community and professional support to meet the most critical healthcare needs, but without housing options, physicians and nurses either won’t come or aren’t able to stay. I myself cannot currently find a home on island to purchase with a substantial salary and perfect credit, as you know this is one of the most difficult housing markets to jump into.
Those who care for our community need to live in our community. Having a supply of homes will help ease the need for market-priced housing for the medical providers Maui desperately needs.
This will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community, allow Maui-born medical professionals who wish to return home to practice medicine to do so, and retain current Maui care providers looking to purchase their first home on Maui.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Thank you,
Dear Council Members,
I have been an emergency room physician on Maui the last 20 years. Despite having lived on Maui my entire life, finding an affordable home even 20 years ago was formidable. Now with so many local doctors carrying substantial loan burdens after finishing medical school and residency, adding a million dollar home to the equation will prevent the best and brightest from practicing here. Even for some of my colleagues here many years, they are still forced to rent. With reimbursement comparatively low in Hawaii and cost of living substantially higher than the rest of the country, more physicians and nurses will leave. What this program will do is benefit those recent medical grads who have large loan burdens. Those are the people we need to attract. Doctors and nurses that can put down roots, raise a family and become a stable work-force. Healthcare on Maui will not survive with locums, part-time and semi-retired care givers. If you care about healthcare on Maui, support this proposal.
Sincerely,
Marc S. Emde MD
Kula.
Aloha,
My name is Marian Horikawa-Barth and I am the Chief Nurse Executive at Maui Memorial Medical Center.
I am a Maui girl and have been working at Maui Memorial for 18 years. I spent many years living and working on the Mainland, and came home to raise my family. There is no place like home, like Maui. We live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth that draws visitors from around the world, but we often cannot attract or retain skilled medical professionals for one reason. A place to call home. Finding a place to live on Maui is extremely difficult. Nurses that have good jobs and a steady income are struggling to find housing they can afford.
That is why I am asking you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and visitors, and we do so for everyone that comes through our doors. Our emergency department is the second busiest in the state seeing more than 41,000 patients in 2021. We offer award level cardiac and stroke care, as well as excellent trauma, mother-baby, medical/surgical and behavioral health care. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. These folks do not have the time to delay treatment or look for life saving care on another island.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center has 75 vacant registered nurse positions, despite hiring 80 plus University of Hawaii Maui College nursing program graduates over the last 3 years. This island, state and national nursing shortage stresses our Maui nurses that are already stretched and exhausted with the pandemic.
The nursing and healthcare provider shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui. The Maui Lani Resolution will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community. Please support Maui-born medical professionals who wish to return home to care for our Ohana and retain current Maui nurses looking to purchase their first home on Maui.
Mahalo - Marian
My name is Mary M. Hew and I am currently a Maui Health Board Member. Prior to joining the board, I was the Kaiser Permanente Clinic Operations Director for Maui and the Big Island. I have been a been a health care professional on Maui for 35 years.
From my perspective our island’s biggest health care challenge is recruiting and retaining qualified health care providers to our beautiful island.
There are many obstacles to relocating to Maui including employment opportunities for spouses, separation from family on the mainland, educational and cultural offerings and housing.
Resolution #22-85 addresses this critical housing obstacle for physicians. Yes, even physicians are struggling to afford Maui housing. Younger physicians often have substantial medical school loans, and may not have equity from a current home to access.
This resolution is an innovative community solution to this significant community physician recruitment problem. The proximity of Maui Lani to the hospital is a huge benefit for the physicians on call. It allows them to get to the patient needing specialty care quickly…you and I might be that patient.
This is a unique opportunity for you as a council member to make a big difference. Please approve Resolution #22-85 so that we can attract and retain the necessary medical professionals to treat us and our families in the years to come during our moment of greatest need.
Thank you for your consideration.
My name is Melinda Sweany and I am the Chief Development Officer of Maui Health Foundation.
Supporters of this resolution have shared stories of healthcare workers who would welcome the opportunity to move to Maui and work at Maui Memorial but are unable to do so because of the prohibitive cost of housing. But that’s only part of the story. This housing crunch also impacts healthcare professionals who call Maui home, some of whom have lived their whole lives here. For example, Maui Memorial recently lost a valued employee who was born and raised here. Because of the high cost of housing, she could no longer afford to live here and support her family. She and her husband and two kids moved to Nevada, 2,500 miles away from family, friends and home.
So not only are we unable to bring people here to offset the shortage of healthcare workers, we are losing vital, lifelong community members who have filled those roles.
As the only medical center on the island, how can Maui Memorial meet the demand for services if the nurses and other healthcare professionals we need here can’t live here?
Voting in support of Resolution 22-85 is how you can literally help address the healthcare needs of our community, by creating a way for Maui Memorial to bring back professionals Hawaii born and raised, and also recruit from the mainland, to Maui.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution. Thank you.
As a not-for-profit organization, Maui Health has a mission is to provide high-quality care to all residents and visitors, regardless of their health insurance coverage or ability to pay. Through all the challenges of the last two years, our nurses and care providers were stretched thin,
working long shifts and hours to meet changing needs, and I am proud of how our staff rose to meet obstacles with compassion, flexibility and professionalism.
Unfortunately, we remain stretched thin. Not because of a surge in illness, but a surge in housing costs. We are unable to recruit and retain the healthcare providers we need due to a dire lack in housing that is accessibly priced for them to be able to move and live here.
Those who care for our community need to live in our community. There is nothing more important in this community than having people on Maui provide care but lack of housing has had a serious impact our ability to hire essential staff. This shortage directly impacts Maui
residents' access to critical, life-changing or life-saving care when they need it. For the first time, our biggest obstacle we have in finding staff to care for patients on Maui is housing. We have had current staff leave the island because homes they are renting are being sold. Staff
relocating from the mainland are paid extremely well for temporary housing, but they are unable to find short-term housing. We have also for the first time had physicians who provide critical life-saving services turn us down because they are unable to find adequate housing.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution. Having this market-priced housing set aside for healthcare professionals will allow us to attract and retain those most needed to meet the healthcare needs in our community. The beauty of Maui and its people is a huge draw when we recruit, but without housing options, the nurses, other care providers and even physicians we need literally can't afford to come Maui. And our community cannot afford to go without them.
I ask you to please approve resolution 22-85. Thank you.
My name is Nancy Leis Overton and I am Vice President of the Dorvin D. Leis Co., Inc. I also sit on the board of the Maui Health Foundation.
We have the facilities and the financial, community and professional support to meet the most critical healthcare needs, but without housing options, physicians and nurses either won’t come or aren’t able to stay.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently short 160 physicians in specialties ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery, orthopedics, and urology. My son was born and raised here in Maui, he graduated from medical school in 2016 from John A. Burns School of Medicine.
He went on to do his residency at NYU Langone Health for anesthesiology. He would love to return to the islands, but housing is one of the issues that will keep him from coming back.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
By allowing this resolution to happen it will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community, allow Maui-born medical professionals who wish to return home to practice medicine to do so, and retain current Maui care providers looking to purchase their first home on Maui.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Thank you,
Nancy Leis Overton
Aloha Maui Council Members,
Re: Resolution 22-85
My name is Nane Aluli. I am a resident of Wailuku and a Native Hawaiian descendant of a well know family from Lahaina, the Farden family.
We are very fortunate to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, the island of Maui. However, you realize as I do, that the healthcare facilities here are challenged with a shortage of professional staff, doctors and nurses. This shortage is being exacerbated by the cost and availability of housing.
That is why I am asking you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and our visitors, and we do so for all who come through our doors. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. They do not have the time to delay treatment or the strength to make the trip to another island to receive care.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently short 160 physicians in specialties ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery, orthopedics and urology.
In addition, MMMC is short 75 registered nurses, despite hiring every single graduate of the University of Hawaii Maui College, every year.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
Those who care for our community need to live in our community. Having a supply of homes will help ease the need for market-priced housing for the medical providers Maui desperately needs.
This will enable us to attract medical professionals who can meet the greatest healthcare needs in our community, allow Maui-born medical professionals who wish to return home to practice medicine to do so, and retain current Maui care providers looking to purchase their first home on Maui.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani Resolution 22-85.
Mahalo for your concern and consideration.
Nane Aluli
General Manager
The Mauian Hotel
Testimonial Regarding the Allotment of Housing for Medical Workers.
Submitted by Dr. & Mrs. Paul & Jael Mazur
heesook1@hotmail.com
The absolute main problem with recruiting and retaining doctors and nurses here on Maui is the astronomical cost and shortage of housing. My
husband was recently recruited to become the only full time heart surgeon on the island. He was working on a temporary contract basis for most of 2021. During that time countless lives were saved due to the fact patients were not required to be flown to Oahu for life saving heart surgery. He was offered and accepted a permanent position to be the only heart surgeon on the entire island of Maui.
We have spent the last year attempting to purchase a home here to relocate only to be outbid by cash buyers from the mainland. Most of whom
primarily use the home as a third or fourth vacation house. It happened so many times that I honestly have lost count. One seller told us not even to submit an offer unless it was all cash. After months of being out bid or turned away we decided to accept a job on the mainland. The people of Maui are now left again with no full time heart surgeon. This affects me more than just a job opportunity because my immediate family lives in Napili. When my sister had an emergency C section she was airlifted to Honolulu. Last year she had to fly herself over to
Oahu for a double mastectomy. Due to covid restrictions she had to do it all alone. This type of medical care for the residents of this island, my family included is unacceptable and unsafe.
Not only do the residents of Maui get short changed on health care but there is other collateral damage. I personally have had a family friend suffer a heart attack while vacationing here. He had a massive heart attack on the beach and died here. About 8 years ago my family was on a flight here from California when a passenger had a massive heart en route on the plane. Thankfully he recovered and was able to be stabilized before he flew back to the mainland to have surgery.
More often than not, the physicians that are recruited to come here will bring their spouses and children. Many physicians are married to physicians, nurses or other professionals that are also needed on island. I am by trade an attorney but was looking to get my teaching credentials when we relocated here. I was interested in teaching elementary school at one of the many public schools
on island in need of teachers. (Which is all of them.) My sisters’ children are at Kam III in Lahaina. They constantly lose teachers mid year due to financial reasons.
Affordable attainable housing here on island will most definitely attract and retain much needed medical professionals and their families who more often than not bring value to the island. I fully understand that land conservation is a fundamental priority on Maui. But I also believe preserving and serving the health of the residents of Maui is just as important. Maui is not just the land, it’s the people. Investing in the health and well being of the population of the island by ensuring attainable healthcare has to be a top priority. The recruitment and attainment of doctors and nurses via affordable housing is an investment in every single man, woman and child on Maui.
Hello, my name is Rebecca Armato and I am the Manager of Physician Services at Maui Health, responsible for recruiting physicians to relocate their full time medical practice to Maui. I have been working to recruit physicians to Maui since January 2019. To date, I have recruited 15 physicians to relocate to Maui and open their full-time medical practice. I have lost almost as many during the recruitment process for one reason or another, but availability of affordable housing is one of those reasons.
• We live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth that draws visitors from around the world, but it is very difficult to attract physicians to relocate here and call it home due to 2 issues, Housing and the Hawaii GET tax.
The housing issue is why I am asking you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and our visitors, and we do so for any who come through our doors. For those with the most critical needs, there is often no other option. Patients do not have the time to delay treatment or the strength and family support to make the trip to another island to receive care. Without physicians, MMMC is only a building.
• Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center is currently short 160 physicians in specialties ranging from family and internal medicine to oncology, heart and lung surgery, gastroenterology and urology. “2 Physicians I worked hard to recruit have been putting offers on multiple homes since opening their practice last fall. They continue to lose out to bids of cash above asking price, coming from off island. They will continue to look, but it is disheartening when they are also focused on building their practice and meeting the needs of our community.
This shortage directly impacts the quality of life for all on Maui.
• Those who care for our community need to live in our community. Having a supply of homes near the hospital will help ease the need for market-priced housing for the medical providers Maui desperately needs.
That is why I ask you to support the Maui Lani resolution.
Thank you.
Dear Members of Maui County Council:
Hello, my name is Bob Takamatsu and I am a member of the Maui Health Foundation board of directors. Maui Health Foundation is a non-profit organization which has provided support to health care on Maui and Lanai for the past 25 years. A mission of the Foundation is to help provide the people on Maui exceptional medical care and, to meet that mission, it is essential that we be able to recruit and retain excellent medical professionals.
One of the challenges that the Foundation has faced is that many of the medical professionals we seek to hire have difficulty finding housing on Maui. To meet the goal of having available a safe, -convenient and comfortable living environment to doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, we need your support of Resolution 22-85. The support of the Resolution will greatly enhance the quality of medical professionals who we will be able to recruit and retain for Maui Memorial Hospital.
I was born at Maui Memorial Hospital, was raised on Maui and have family and friends who live on Maui. I believe in the mission of the Maui Health Foundation; I believe in the efforts of the County of Maui in its support of exceptional medical care; and I believe that, with your help, we can work collaboratively in making medical care on Maui as great as it can possibly be.
SUPPORT FOR RESOLUTION 22-85
Please support this unique partnership between Maui County's ownership of 16 Maui Lani lots and the Maui Health Foundation. The need for housing is urgent across the board, but especially for our health care providers. These homes will guarantee a home for physicians and health care specialists that our island urgently needs. As a Hospital Foundation board member, I have come across many challenges in our community and never thought that "housing" would be one of them. Housing for healthcare will help our entire community.
Sincerely yours,
Saedene Ota
Dear Honorable Members of County Council,
My name is Wade Ebersole, and I am the Chief Operating Officer at Maui Health. I feel so fortunate to live and work on Maui. I am also grateful to work for Maui Health, which provides critical core services that allows Maui to be a thriving place to live, work and visit. Like most industries, the healthcare industry is struggling deeply with how to plug the pukas in our workforce. These gaps are a result of a number of complex factors that are largely attributed to the pandemic. We have been laser focused on a commitment to our community during the past two years and now we face another stark crisis, a housing shortage that is making retention and recruitment of Maui born medical professionals, very difficult.
Housing is the number issue cited for candidates who decline an offer of employment.
As an anchor institution for Maui, we take great pride in our commitments to this community. Because of challenges that extend beyond our sphere of influence of control we are ill positioned to meet the growing demands for life saving treatments, from our aging community.
Working for Maui Health is a major commitment to the community, and everyone who works here wants to be apart making this a better place to live. These employees who dedicate so much should be able to own a home on Maui. I strongly support any resolution that makes this a reality. Including, having a supply of homes that are dedicated to healthcare professionals.
Thank you for your consideration, and your dedication to making a Maui a wonderful place to live.
Warm Regards,
Wade
To: Honorable Alice Lee, Chair and Members of the Maui County Council
From: Tamar Goodfellow, President, Maui Health Foundation
Re: Support for "CR 22-85, authorizing the disposition of real property to the Maui Health Foundation and for waiver of outstanding real property taxes”
Aloha Chair Lee, Vice Chair Rawlins-Fernandez and Council Members,
My name is Tamar Goodfellow. I serve as the volunteer President of the Maui Health Foundation, a 25 year old non profit organization whose sole mission is to support the highest quality of health care at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai.
My devotion to our hospital and to health care on our island stems from a personal passion to save lives here on Maui. With only one acute care hospital, Maui Memorial is the place that each of us, our family members, our friends, and our visitors will go in a life threatening medical emergency. I want it to be the best.
This is why I am asking for your support for the transfer of these lots.
* Each year our only hospital cares for more than 40,000 patients, including those on medicare, quest/medicaid, the underinsured and uninsured. No one is turned away.
* Maui Memorial has the second busiest emergency department in the state of Hawaii, second only to Queens.
* Quality of care directly correlates to Care Providers. Island wide, we are short hundreds of doctors, nurses, technicians and aides. This shortage of Care Providers is a growing issue nationwide, but Maui is particularly challenged with recruiting and retaining Care Providers. Right now the hospital is short staffed in every department.
* The single biggest barrier to recruiting and keeping Care Providers on Maui is the lack of housing at all income levels.
* The County of Maui owns 55 lots in Maui Lani, walking distance from the hospital. The Maui Health Foundation is asking for your support to transfer in fee simple, 16 of those lots to be held in perpetuity by the Foundation for Care Provider housing.
* Our program will be modeled after Na Hale O Maui. The land will be held in perpetuity by the Foundation. Homes will be built by a home builder, and sold to care providers at leasehold rates, meaning less the value of the land, and the restriction that future buyers must also be care providers. This makes the homes, first, available nearby the hospital, and second, attainable.
* All healthcare providers are eligible. (They do not need to be hospital employees). If applicants are below the 140 AMI, they will be directed to NHOM. If they are above 140 AMI, they will be asked to get pre-qualified for a mortgage and be part of the Foundation lottery.
* Selection criteria will be weighted by the following criteria: greatest community need (as determined by annual healthcare survey); Maui or Hawaii born Care Provider seeking to return home; current resident Care Provider seeking to purchase their first home.
* Home buyers will own the home and improvements, but not the land. They will pay a monthly leasehold fee, determined to cover the management costs of the program/property. (Though not yet finalized, we have begun a dialogue with Na Hale O Maui asking them to act as the property manager for the 16 Maui Health Foundation homes funded by the lease rent to not only cover their management costs but also further their mission.)
* There are deed restrictions. When a home owner sells, there will be a shared appreciation where the home owner will retain at least 50% of any equity in the home, (less the land value). The formula will be modeled after NHOM. Because the value of the land is deducted from any appreciation of the property, the price point for the homes can remain stable. The seller must sell to another qualified Care Provider.
* We have been asked why the County should support housing for Physicians and Nurses who earn a substantial salary, versus community members with greater financial need. Simply put, we need housing for everyone, but the ability to attract and retain Health Care Providers is becoming critical on Maui. Doctors may become wealthy over time, but initially have a difficult time qualifying for a mortgage because of their high education debt and lack of a guaranteed level of income, while they start and build their practice.
This property has a long and sordid history. Resolutions 22-84 and 22-85 are proposed as Phase 1, creating the opportunity to do something positive with the 33 lots that are not controversial, and address the critical need for workforce housing. Phase 2 includes 19 additional lots adjacent to Palama Street, that involve long standing issues (Wall, fill, drainage, etc.) that need to be resolved by engaging the Palama Street residents.
It should be noted however, that an existing archeological study conducted by Dr. Six shows no Iwi Kupuna sites on the property. In addition, the State Department of Health issued a letter stating that the mill mud used as fill on the lots has been tested and cleared for use, and finally, the County of Maui Department of Water has issued verification that water and meters are available for the 33 lots.
There is a critical need for housing for Care Providers that may save your life, or that of someone you love. I am happy to try and answer any questions you might have, but before I close, I would like to share a quote from Dr. Rafael Oania, a Board Certified Anesthesiologist, born and raised on Maui.
"It is a dream of mine to be able to come home to Maui to practice medicine. After years of training in New York City, I was ready to bring my talents back to Maui. However, the harsh reality of the housing crisis in Maui has steered me away from this dream. It’s sad to think that a well paid physician isn’t even able to afford or find an affordable home in Maui. It is a concern that not only affects the recruitment of physicians but the prosperity of the entire working class and families who are at risk of being unable to live a reasonable life on the island that they have called home for generations.”
Mahalo for considering the passage of Resolution 22-85.
My name is Cassie Chavez, and I am a Development Manager at Maui Health Foundation.
I was born and raised on Maui and have been blessed to call this island my home. As with many local families, I have had several family members cared for at Maui Memorial, and my four children were born here. From an early age, I realized how critical sufficient health care was to our well-being and survival: specialized physicians, surgeons, and nurses on the island to care for the needs of our community.
Growing up with aging grandparents, other family members, and now caring for my mother, I have experienced the emotional roller coaster of wondering if our island has the specialized physicians that my loved ones need when facing their health issues. We, of course, want the best care for them, so if we seek it off-island, who will travel with them and stay with them for their recovery? Who will take care of the family that we leave behind? How do we afford the financial burden of travel, accommodations, etc.? How will traveling and being away from home affect their healing process? To avoid this burden, we often kept our loved ones on the island but always wondered “what if” and “did we really do everything we could?” I would not wish it on anyone to go through this anguish for their loved ones over something so essential as health care.
Since working with the Foundation, I have experienced the excitement and relief of hearing about a new physician or a new specialty coming to Maui and the disappointment of learning that they moved back because of lack of housing. It is so disheartening to know that the physicians and nurses who leave their homes because of their desire to serve our community, embrace our culture, and put down roots, are leaving because they cannot find a home here among the community that they serve.
Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only place on this island that can provide critical, lifesaving care to our residents and visitors. Our emergency department is the second busiest in the state, seeing more than 41,000 patients last year alone. For those with the most critical needs, our local families and kupuna, there is often no other option. They do not have the time to delay treatment or look for lifesaving care on another island. Our families cannot shoulder the burden of the added costs of flying to the mainland, even outer island, for treatment. It takes a financial, physical, and emotional toll on the families of their loved ones.
Today, Maui Memorial Medical Center has 75 vacant registered nurse positions, despite hiring 80 plus University of Hawaii Maui College nursing program graduates over the last three years. This island, state, and national nursing shortage stresses our Maui nurses already stretched and exhausted with the pandemic.
We need to be part of a solution. That is why I am asking you to support this resolution.
Because healing at home surrounded by our ‘ohana is the best medicine.
We are in support of Resolution 22-85, in that it utilizes non-performing County assets in to benefit the Medical community on Maui; which is important to everyone.