Friday, May 16, 2025
5/16/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - The nonprofit Hospice of Hilo dba Hawai`i Care Choices celebrates 40 years of serving the East Hawai`i region through our mission of improving the lives of those we touch through compassionate care of mind, body and spirit. In 2010 we built a 14,130square foot Medicare certified hospice inpatient facility on 3.5 acres of State DLNR Land with a 65-year lease. The building is a custom-designed health care facility meeting all of the state and federal life safety codes intended for post-acute care. There are 12private patient suites with ADA bathrooms and private lanai/garden patios. Approximately 30% of the building is communal area designed as a home-like atmosphere and includes a dining room, a full-service certified kitchen and laundry, a family gathering room with a refreshment station, a keiki (children) room, a spa, a mediation chapel, as well as staff areas. In designing the building, a central air conditioning system was installed that has proven to be costly to maintain and sustain. Towards that end, and with decreased utilization, there was a decision to pause patient care in the building in November of 2022. We are now looking at re-imagining the unmet need in our East Hawai`i community of elder care, with a focus on individuals living with dementia/Alzheimers, as well as those with serious or terminal illness. To make that a reality, the original AC chiller system needs to be replaced with a more sustainable cost-effective split-level air conditioning system. As a community-based nonprofit with narrow profitability margins, the funds required for a project of this nature are not readily available to us. It is our desire to put the building to use as soon as possible because it is a valuable community asset for our island and possibly the entire state.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).