The Queen’s Health Systems announced plans to build a modern 80-bed hospital in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The new hospital will deliver comprehensive inpatient and emergency care. Key features include an emergency department, ambulatory care center and a helipad to enhance inter-island patient transfers.
The hospital’s planned location is on a parcel owned by QHS in West Hawaii Business Park.
Supporting the healthcare workforce is an adjacent housing development designed to attract and retain medical professionals by offering affordable housing all within a connected community. Rural healthcare faces significant challenges in attracting and retaining skilled employees, especially with the shortage of affordable housing. To address this, Queen’s is exploring an innovative affordable housing program, offering employees the chance to purchase homes at below-market rates.
Queen’s also plans to develop a 40,000-square-foot center for outpatient and specialty care at Queen’s North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital. Highlighting this facility is the development of a destination cancer center, offering advanced services such as radiation oncology, infusion therapy, oncology surgery and groundbreaking precision medicine and genomics. This facility aims to reduce off-island travel for a full array of healthcare needs including cardiac care, surgeries, diabetes, chronic disease management while delivering care close to home.
The healthcare organization also envisions a plan to provide new healthcare services in Kona that will include skilled nursing, post-acute care and urgent care facilities. The Queen’s vision may also include destination services such as a spinal cord rehabilitation center, offering advanced recovery therapies and attracting patients from the Pacific Rim and beyond. These services are designed to improve local access while establishing Kona as a global leader in specialized rehabilitation.
The unified implementation plan is phased over seven years. Possible funding strategies will include private investments and philanthropic contributions.
