The state Legislature today passed a capitol improvement project budget that includes funding for Hilo Medical Center’s Cardiac Center and the Hawaii Pacific Oncology Center, according to a news release from the state Senate.
The release said $3.5 million will go to the construction and equipment for a second catheterization laboratory for the medical center’s cardiac unit, and $6.5 million for plans, design, equipment and construction for the expansion and improvement of the clinic at the oncology center.
The CIP bill, House Bill 2725, covers fiscal years 2020 and 2021.
HMC’s interventional cardiac program began service on January 1, 2019, with initial funding from the Legislature in 2018. Since July 1, 2019, interventional cardiac catheterization for the treatment of heart attacks has been made available 24/7 for the residents of East Hawaii.
Just in the last year, over 40 heart attacks have been treated in the catheterization lab with an additional 181 patients who were electively treated with stents for heart blockages, preventing future heart attacks, according to the release.