Maui County once again got shortchanged. MMMC asked to be freed from the Hawaii Health Systems Corp. that robs it blind. This did not happen. MMMC has not really been separated from HHSC. MMMC was seeking to become a private hospital. Maui County needs a private hospital outside the reach of the state system. The Legislature has once again failed us.

Maui County hospital care doesn't need "more autonomy," it needs complete autonomy. Whether it is a new full-service hospital or MMMC, we need to be rid of government involvement. We need to be rid of the parasite known as HHSC. Why would our legislators insist on hanging onto MMMC and feeding it millions of our tax dollars each year? Why do we need an additional layer of management? Perhaps the legislators are protecting their friends at HHSC and the union members who helped put them in office.

Sen. Roz Baker was quoted as saying "Maui Memorial can also now take out loans or revenue bonds, or participate in municipal leasing." Is this the wonderful "range of options" MMMC now has - going further in debt and you and I can pay for it?

The story continues, "As part of the Legislature's two-year, $5 billion budget, the hospital received $29.5 million from the state capital improvement projects program." To those of you who own small businesses, and those of you who work for them, this is your money, not a gift. Construction workers, this is why you don't have jobs building a new hospital. It would be so much better for a private company to come in and contribute $350 million for a private hospital thus stimulating our economy.

Sen. Shan Tsutsui was credited with boosting the Hawaii Health Systems' budget by $30 million a year for the next two years. He was "credited" for taking $60 million of our money to bail out failing hospitals.

According to the article, "(MMMC CEO?Wesley) Lo said Maui Memorial averages a monthly deficit of $2.5 million and needed to borrow $10 million just to pay its vendors and keep afloat. The hospital also receives a $20 million annual state subsidy." A private company would pay taxes, put Maui workers back to work and wouldn't have its hand in our wallets.

The story stated: "The reorganization bill will allow Maui Memorial to continue receiving federal Medicaid and Medicare dollars because of its ongoing partnership with the embattled Hawaii Health Systems Corp., Baker said." Baker seems unaware that MMMC could be reimbursed by federal entitlement programs if it were private. This has nothing to do with it being part of HHSC.

Wes Lo stated "this is huge." Yes, so huge your taxes will be raised right through the roof to pay for this colossal error that our legislators have devised.

People, this is not huge. This is HHSC, a private corporation, influencing Baker and the others who are clueless about health care. This is the union saying it is protecting workers who would actually make more money in a private hospital. This is the union fighting to raise your taxes. MMMC workers, this is the government robbing you blind on one hand and stopping you from getting the kinds of jobs a private hospital would provide on the other.

I hope MMMC finds a private hospital company willing to trust that the money it invests won't be taken away by HHSC. Remember, HHSC took money from JP Morgan which was meant for the cardiac tower at Maui Memorial. Private hospitals actually study the market very closely before they throw millions into a new project.

If a private hospital were to purchase MMMC, it would get an old landlocked hospital, no decent equipment and with the HHSC parasite attached. Why would any hospital do this when they can have the market and the staff by building a modern facility to provide quality service? People who run hospitals successfully are not likely to be attracted.

Luckily, the Association for Improved Healthcare on Maui and the Malulani Foundation are still working to bring you quality health care with the added benefits of increasing jobs and diversification of Maui's economy.

Sen. Baker and our other legislators, thanks for nothing!

Jan Shields, a registered nurse, is executive director of the Association for Improved Healthcare on Maui.

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