The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Leeward Planning Commission of the County of Hawai‘i on Nov. 21, 2024.
_____________
November 21, 2024, 12 p.m.
West Hawai‘i Civic Center, Council Chambers
To: Leeward Planning Commission of the County of Hawai‘i
Barbara DeFranco, Chair
Mahina Paishon-Duarte, Vice-Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Malia Hill, Policy Director
RE: Agenda Item No. 8 — PL-PDI-2024-000009
Aloha Chair DeFranco, Vice-Chair Paishon-Duarte and other members of the Commission,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports the planning director’s draft bill relating to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The bill would allow hospitals, sanitariums, old age, convalescent, nursing and rest homes to be built by-right in industrial-commercial mixed zoning districts.
These facilities are considered a by-right use in the general, village and Downtown Hilo commercial zones; however, they are not permitted in any of the county’s industrial zones.
Expanding the areas in which these healthcare facilities could be built would help potential healthcare providers offer much-needed services to island residents. This is not only a matter of convenience, but also of healthcare affordability and access. Enacting this bill could help address the state’s healthcare shortages.
A 2023 report from the Hawaii Physician Workforce Assessment Project estimated that Hawai‘i County has an unmet need for 206 full-time equivalent physicians.[1] In addition, a 2022 report by the Healthcare Association of Hawaii estimated that the county is shy about 500 nurses and other non-physician staff of the number required to meet its healthcare needs.[2]
Expanding zoning options for healthcare might not immediately increase the number of available doctors and nurses in the county, but it would remove unnecessary barriers to new facilities.
Making it easier to open a new healthcare facility, in turn, would bring more doctors, specialists and healthcare professionals to Hawai‘i County, thereby improving healthcare access and outcomes for its residents.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Malia Hill
Policy Director
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
_____________
[1] “Annual Report on Findings from the Hawai‘i Physician Workforce Assessment Project,” University of Hawai‘i, December 2023, p. 5.
[2] “Hawai‘i Healthcare Workforce Initiative 2022 Report,” Healthcare Association of Hawaii, p. 7.
