HMC hospitals to close; nearly 1,000 jobs lost

HONOLULU?? The operators of bankrupt Hawaii Medical Center hospitals in Liliha and Ewa plan to close the facilities within three weeks, putting nearly 1,000 people out of work and eliminating more than 340 hospital beds.

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The closures would affect the region's economy with the loss of 990 jobs, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported Saturday (http://bit.ly/vgevPN ). Also, there would be a dramatic impact on health care.

HMC provides dialysis services and operates the only organ transplant center in the Pacific, while the Ewa facility is the only full-service emergency hospital in West Oahu, the newspaper said.

With the planned closure, the 150 patients in the two hospitals will have to be moved or discharged.

State officials are hoping a buyer or buyers can be found to keep the facilities running.

"Our understanding is there are still lingering interested parties," said Donalyn Dela Cruz, spokeswoman for Gov. Neil Abercrombie. "There are interested parties looking to reopen the facilities. If and when that occurs, the state will expedite that process."

Because so many health care workers will be losing their jobs, they'll likely have a difficult time finding new employment, according to health officials.

"I don't think there's any one health system here that could absorb all those workers," said Shawn Nakamoto, a spokesman for Hawaii Pacific Health, which operates Kapiolani and Straub hospitals.

There was some hope recently that closing the hospitals could be avoided when an affiliate of California-based Prime Healthcare Services offered to pay a minimum of $25 million for the facilities.

However, the deal fell apart this week because the former owner of the hospitals, which is owed $39 million by the current owner, objected to the offer, according to Prime.

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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45710876/ns/health/

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