Hawaii

The Packed Hawaii State Hospital May Soon See A Surge In Patients From A Private Facility

Published

2 years ago

February 15, 2024

The Packed Hawaii State Hospital May Soon See A Surge In Patients From A Private Facility

Health officials are seeking $14 million in emergency funding to try to improve security and reduce the patient population at the Hawaii State Hospital, but the psychiatric facility may soon have to make room for an influx of even more patients from the privately run Kahi Mohala facility.

The hospital has contracted for years with the nonprofit Kahi Moha to house 40 of its patients there, and most or all of those patients are “forensic” patients. That means they were committed to Hawaii State Hospital by the courts after being arrested.

Sutter Health network is now pursuing a deal to sell Kahi Mohala to The Queen’s Health System, and “Queen’s has indicated that the forensic patients will no longer be serviced at that campus,” said Marian Tsuji, deputy director for behavioral health for the state Department of Health.

The Hawaii State Hospital is licensed for 297 beds, but as of Wednesday morning had 345 patients. That census may increase even more if other patients who were hospitalized by the courts are returned to the hospital from Kahi Mohala. (Anita Hofschneider/Civil Beat/2021)

Tsuji told lawmakers Wednesday that the department is trying to reduce the number of patients at Kahi Mohala to prepare for the movement of patients from that facility back to Hawaii State Hospital. But the loss of the Kahi Mohala beds seems likely to aggravate already severe crowding at the hospital.

Kahi Mohala referred questions to a public relations firm, which said it didn’t have any information. Queen’s didn’t respond to a request for comment.

‘A Very Challenging Time’

Dr. Kenneth Luke, administrator of Hawaii State Hospital, told members of the House Health and Homelessness Committee on Wednesday the hospital is licensed for 297 beds, but as of Wednesday morning had 345 patients. That does not include the patients now at Kahi Mohala.

Public attention has focused on problems at Hawaii State Hospital since Nov. 13, when a patient stabbed to death 29-year-old nurse Justin Bautista with what hospital staff have described as a pocket knife.

The attack occurred on the hospital grounds in an unsecured cottage used for a state-operated specialized residential program, which functions much like a halfway house. Tommy Kekoa Carvalho has been charged with second-degree murder in the case and is being held at the Oahu Community Correctional Center.

The case was the first killing of a staff member on the hospital campus, but the hospital has long been the subject of complaints about abuse of patients and threats and violence against staff.

Luke said after the attack on Bautista that the hospital has been urgently trying to reduce the patient count, but the census numbers he announced Wednesday suggest the facility has made little progress on that front in recent months.

“Hawaii State Hospital is going through a very challenging time right now,” Luke told lawmakers.

“The types of patients that we’re getting are much sicker than we got maybe a decade ago. These are patients that have not only a chronic and severe mental illness, but they also have co-occurring conditions, oftentimes a substance abuse disorder, primarily methamphetamine,” Luke said.

“This really complicates their conditions, makes them much more acute, much more difficult to treat,” he said. Luke said 70% of the patients were “houseless” on the street, and are therefore less stable than patients of past years.

He described the hospital staff as “the best staff that any hospital could ask for … but I feel that we owe them what we can to make the place safer.”

Backlog In Evaluations

One problem has been the long delays in processing people sent by the courts to Hawaii State Hospital for evaluations to determine if they are mentally fit to proceed with their criminal cases, Tsuji said.

Marian Tsuji, deputy director for behavioral health for the state Department of Health, and Hawaii State Hospital Administrator Kenneth Luke brief House lawmakers on the emergency appropriation request. Tsuji said the process of evaluating patients for the court system needs to get quicker.

Those patients sometimes remain at the hospital for many months because of a backlog in the evaluations, which contributes to the high patient counts.

“We need to process people a whole lot quicker than what we’ve been doing,” Tsuji said. “We’re short forensic psychologists, evaluators at the courts as well as at the hospital, and so if we can get those evaluations done quicker, we can process them quicker.”

Crisis Shelters And Metal Detectors

House Health and Homelessness Committee Chairwoman Della Au Belatti questioned Luke and Tsuji about the request for an emergency appropriation to finance improvements to Hawaii State Hospital.

The original funding request in House Bill 1941 was for $5.975 million, but Gov. Josh Green is about to submit a governor’s message that will increase that request to $14.2 million, Luke said.

A consultant’s report last month recommended changes in hospital operations, and the money would be used to finance a reorganization, according to hospital staff. It would also pay for an expansion of the hospital’s existing network of community-based treatment facilities, Tsuji said.

Those facilities are used to transition patients back into the community after they have completed treatment at the hospital. But some patients cannot be placed in group homes because they are full, which contributes to overcrowding as patients remain at the hospital until a community slot opens, Tsuji said.

She said the governor’s message will ask lawmakers to fund two licensed crisis shelters for patients, and two additional houses with 24-hour supervision. The state plans to award contracts to operate those facilities, Tsuji said.

Additional money is also being requested to increase the rates the state pays for existing group homes because in some cases those payments have not been increased in a decade, she said. Tsuji said she expects those rates will go up by 20% to 25%.

The hospital reorganization would involve creating a new “safety and security team” at the facility, and improving information technology, according to Naomi Yanagishita, associate administrator for administrative and support services at the hospital.

Another $650,000 would be committed to upgrading communications and information technology within the hospital, including fixing video cameras that no longer function, Yanagishita said.

Tsuji said some of the new funding would also be used to buy wand-type metal detectors to screen patients such as Carvalho who are allowed to come and go from the hospital campus. The hospital is also requesting money for drug testing, Tsuji said.

Tsuiji said the governor’s message will request $700,000 in construction funding to relocate the hospital’s guard shack to better control access to the facility.

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Hawaii

Hawaii County accepting applications for Summer Fun employees

Published

4 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Hawaii County accepting applications for Summer Fun employees

HAWAII ISLAND (HawaiiNewsNow) – The County of Hawaii Department of Parks and Recreation is now accepting applications for temporary positions in its 2026 Summer Fun program.

The two positions available are Activity Aide I ($17.50 per hour) and Activity Aide II ($19 per hour).

To be considered for employment, applicants must possess a valid first-aid certification, attend mandatory training June 2–5, and be available to work June 8–July 17.

Applications are available online on the Parks and Recreation website, and must be submitted to the Recreation Division Office at 799 Pi‘ilani St., Hilo, HI 96720, postmarked by Saturday, Feb. 28.

For more information, call the Recreation Division Office at (808) 961-8740.

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Hawaii

Hawaii’s jobless rate remains second lowest in U.S. – Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Published

16 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Hawaii’s jobless rate remains second lowest in U.S. – Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Hawaii’s labor market
continues to rank among the best
in the country.

The state’s seasonally adjusted rate plunged three-tenths of a point to 2.2% in November from September and now has fallen by a half-percentage point over the last three reporting periods, according to data released Tuesday from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

There was no unemployment data for October due to the federal government shutdown.

The 2.2% rate maintained Hawaii’s ranking as the second lowest in the country, according to state data released Wednesday — a day later — by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Only South Dakota was lower in November at 2.1%.

The last time Hawaii’s rate dropped below 2.2% was in March 2020 when it hit 2.1% just before the pandemic started.

Hawaii’s low number caught Eugene Tian, DBEDT’s former state chief economist, by surprise.

“I was surprised to see the unemployment rate dropped to 2.2% in November,” said Tian, who retired at the end of May. “It is close to the historical low of 2.0% Hawaii experienced during the last four months of 2017. Hawaii ranks as one of the best labor markets in the nation.”

Hawaii’s rate has dropped from 2.7% in August to 2.5% in September to 2.2% in November.

Nationally, the U.S. unemployment rate was 4.6% in November, up by two-tenths of a point from September.

Tian said Hawaii’s unemployment rate fell sharply mainly due to a large increase in the number of people employed. Between September and November, the state’s labor force jumped by 1,000, or 0.15%, but the number of people employed increased by 2,800, or 0.42%.

“The faster increase in employment, with a slower increase in the labor force, made the unemployment rate low,” Tian said. “The increase in employment was due to the increase in payroll jobs (1,700 between September and November) and self-employment at 1,100.”

The state’s labor force, which is compiled from a telephone survey of households, edged up in November to 688,000 from 687,000 in September. The labor force includes those who are employed, those who are unemployed but actively seeking work and those who are self-employed. The number of people employed rose to 672,650 from 669,850 while those unemployed fell to 15,350 from 17,200.

In a separate survey, an increase in nonfarm payroll jobs in November from September was mainly driven by a 1,000 increase in construction jobs and a 1,000 gain in professional and business services.

Nonfarm payroll jobs are calculated from a mail survey of employers and are considered a better indicator of job growth due to a larger sample size than the labor force data, which is compiled from a telephone survey of households. In the payroll count, one person might be counted multiple times if that person has multiple jobs.

Tian said construction jobs continued their ascent in 2025 with the November number at a historical high of 42,000, while the values of completed construction, as measured by the contracting tax base, decreased every month between May and September 2025 (the latest data available is September), and the value of private building permits issued decreased every month between August and November 2025 (latest data available is November).

Tian said Hawaii’s unemployment numbers could rise in March when the Bureau of Labor Statistics benchmarks data of the previous year based on complete survey data. He noted that monthly data is based on sample data.

“Due to sampling errors for the monthly data, it is possible that the labor statistics may overstate the current conditions and the corrections will be released in March this year,” he said. “The lagging effect of new hires and activities may also contribute to the distortion of the labor statistics. I expect the unemployment rates will be adjusted toward higher levels when the numbers are benchmarked in March.”

Tian said if more people join the labor force, the state’s unemployment rate will rise when the number of employed people stabilizes.

“In the last few months, the labor force participation rate was stable at 60.4% (August-November),” he said. “Hawaii’s current labor force participation rate is lower than the U.S. at 62.5% (November 2025) and lower than the Hawaii monthly average of 61.1% in 2019. If labor force participation goes higher, the unemployment rate is likely to rise.”

While the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell, all of the state’s four major counties saw increases. State and national labor force data are adjusted for seasonal factors, but the county jobs data are not seasonally adjusted and thus do not take into account variations such as the winter holiday and summer vacation seasons.

Honolulu County’s rate rose to 2.3% from 2.2%. Hawaii County’s rate increased to 2.7% from 2.5%. Kauai County’s rate rose to 2.3% from 2.2%. And Maui County’s rate increased to 2.6% from 2.5%. Within Maui County, Maui island’s rate rose to 2.6% from 2.3%, Molokai’s rate fell to 4.0% from 5.9% and Lanai’s rate dropped to 1.1% from 2.2%.

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Hawaii

Healthier Hawaii: How to protect your hearing; head and neck warning signs you shouldn’t ignore

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Healthier Hawaii: How to protect your hearing; head and neck warning signs you shouldn’t ignore

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – You may have received new earbuds or headphones during the holidays. But there are a few things you keep in mind when it comes to protecting your hearing.

Dr. Ross Shockley, an otolaryngologist with Wilcox Medical Center and Kaua‘i Medical Clinic, offers the following tips for hearing, as well as head and neck health.

Head and neck cancers

Many people are not familiar with head or neck cancers. What causes it and when should someone see a doctor?

Traditionally, head and neck cancers were mostly associated with longtime smokers and drinkers. Now, more cases are tied to human papillomavirus (HPV), even in nonsmokers and drinkers. HPV is the same virus that can lead to cervical cancer in women. It is common and can have no symptoms.
If you have throat pain, pain when swallowing that doesn’t go away, or a mass in your neck that feels firm and isn’t moving, don’t wait. See your doctor.
Head and neck cancers can be treated, no matter the cause, if caught early.

How to prevent hearing loss

More young adults, in their early 20s, are experiencing hearing loss. Can hearing loss be reversed?

Hearing loss can’t be reversed. Once ringing in ears starts, that can be permanent.
Wear appropriate hearing protection when using power tools or firing weapons.
You can find ear protection that blocks out sound for about $15. Protection that covers the whole ear are better than earplugs.

How do you know if music or movies are too loud?

Don’t turn anything up to the maximum.
You want the volume to be at the lowest level where you can still hear and understand.
If there is background noise, don’t crank up the volume all the way to fight it. Use noise-cancelling headphones or go somewhere quieter.

Dangers of cleaning your ears

You may feel the urge to clean your ears. Shockley says do less, or even nothing at all.

Our ears clean themselves. As new skin grows, it takes wax with it out of your ear.
When you clean your ears, you’re interrupting that natural cleaning process.
You can also put yourself at risk for external ear infections – or make your ears itch more.

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