TGI STAFF The proposed merger of Wilcox Health System with two Oahu hospital organizations has passed the fourth and final public-panel review. Last Thursday, the Hawai’i Statewide Health Coordinating Council gave its blessingr. The O’ahu and Kaua’i health planning councils
TGI STAFF
The proposed merger of Wilcox Health System with two Oahu hospital organizations has passed the fourth and final public-panel review.
Last Thursday, the Hawai’i Statewide Health Coordinating Council gave its blessingr. The O’ahu and Kaua’i health planning councils and the Certificate of Need Review Panel last month approved the applications to merge Wilcox (Wilcox Hospital and Kaua’i Medical Clinic) with Straub Clinic & Hospital and Kapi’olani Health into a new entity that would be called Hawai’i Pacific Health.
The final governmental action required for the merger is for State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA) administrator Marilyn A. Matsunaga to issue her written opinion. That is expected this month.
On paper, the merger seems a matter of economic survival for Wilcox Health System, which according to the SHPDA application stands to lose around $29.2 million over the next five years without the merger. The Wilcox losses would about $16.3 million over the next five years with the merger.
Savings are expected as a result of the merger by centralizing purchasing, personnel and other departments and services that each hospital and clinic now handles separately.
Staff writer Paul C. Curtis contributed to this report.
