It is with great pleasure to share news that The Queen’s Health Systems has announced its plans to build a new 80-bed hospital in Kailua-Kona. The new hospital will deliver comprehensive inpatient and emergency care. Key features include a state-of-the-art emergency department, an ambulatory care center, and a helipad to enhance interisland patient transfers.
The hospital’s planned location is on a parcel owned by QHS in West Hawaii Business Park. Our goal is to create a centralized outpatient and specialty care hub to serve the west and north region of Hawaii Island. This plan presents a transformative vision for health care delivery on Hawaii Island.
Anchored in the principles of “care close to home,” this plan addresses the pressing challenges of delivering health care in rural and isolated settings while leveraging innovation, sustainability and community engagement to create a resilient and patient-centered health care ecosystem.
Supporting the health care workforce will be an adjacent housing development designed to attract and retain medical professionals by offering affordable housing all within a connected community. Rural health care 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.
This vision not only enhances Queen’s ability to recruit and retain staff but also fosters deeper community ties as employees becomes homeowners. Financially secure and invested in their community, employees experience reduced stress, higher job satisfaction and a stronger commitment to Queen’s and the communities we serve.
Meanwhile, Queen’s benefits from a stable workforce, improved patient care and a strengthened local economy. These outcomes align with the program’s vision to support the well-being of both its staff and the rural communities Queen’s serves.
Queen’s also plans to develop a state-of-the-art facility at Queen’s North Hawaii Community Hospital — a 40,000-square-foot center for outpatient and specialty care. 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 health care needs including cardiac care, interventional radiology, surgeries, diabetes and chronic disease management, while delivering care close to home.
Queen’s also envisions a plan to provide new health care services in Kona including 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.
This unified implementation plan will be phased over seven years. Funding strategies will include private investments and philanthropic contributions.
By combining advanced medical capabilities with community-focused solutions, this initiative will not only meet the growing needs of our local residents but also position Hawaii Island as a destination for world-class care.
The Queen’s Health Systems strives “to fulfill the intent of Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV to provide in perpetuity quality health care services to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians and all of the people of Hawaii.” I look forward to continued collaboration with all of you and grateful for your support as we move this work forward together.
Stephany Vaioleti is president of Queen’s North Hawaii Community Hospital. This editorial is brought to you by Community First Hawaii a nonprofit serving as a convener and catalyst for solutions to improve health and access to health care. For more information, please visit our website at www.communityfirsthawaii.org or Facebook and Instagram pages at @communityfirsthawaii.
