Hale Makua moves forward with plans for rehab center

The proposed 76,200-square-foot, two-story Hale Makua Rehabilitation Facility would provide services such as physical, occupational and speech therapy; home health and nursing services; and parking.

The nonprofit is taking the next steps toward the project, putting together a draft environmental assessment that was released Thursday in the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development’s “The Environmental Notice,” which showed an “anticipated finding of no significant impact.”

“The purpose of the proposed project is to provide a much needed rehabilitation facility within the Kahului community,” according to the draft report. “Based on public outreach conducted with the local community, the proposed rehabilitation facility would provide greatly needed health services to Maui’s residents, especially the elderly population.”

The project site would include construction of the commercial building on a 2.8-acre portion of the Kahului Gateball Field, which is managed by the county Department of Parks and Recreation. Nonprofit Hale Makua would lease the land from the county.

A map shows the site plan of Hale Makua’s proposed skilled nursing and outpatient rehabilitation center. Map courtesy of Hale Makua

The Kahului Gateball Field, which is part of the Kahului Community Center Park, would “no longer be available” for recreational users and youth practices, including clubs like Maui Disc Golf Association, Maui Taiko and the American Youth Soccer Organization.

Other alternatives suggested for play include Lihikai Park and Maui High School, and other parks located within the vicinity of the site.

The area is bordered by the Kahului Community Center and Park, the existing Hale Makua Kahului facility and single-family residences and public roadways, according to the report.

Maui County and Hale Makua have spent the past few years paving the way for the planned expansion. In October 2018, before the project had been officially proposed, the Maui County Council passed a resolution that would allow the nonprofit to lease 7.4 acres of the park for future expansion.

In June 2020, the Maui Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the request to amend the Wailuku-Kahului Community Plan land use designation from park to public/quasi-public and to change the zoning from residential district to public/quasi-public district.

The draft assessment reports that the existing Hale Makua Kahului Facility is zoned as public/quasi public.

The proposed rehabilitation facility is part of the Hale Makua Master Plan, which also includes renovations to the existing Hale Makua facility in Kahului and relocation of the Wailuku facility services to the Kahului campus.

Estimated costs for Phase 1, which would include the skilled nursing/outpatient rehabilitation center, are $64.2 million, and construction is slated to take 18 months to complete.

According to the document, this would increase “self-reliance and self-determination” for the community by providing health and wellness services locally, rather than having to move or commute to Oahu in order to receive these services.

Phase 2 would include additional kupuna health and social services facilities on 4.6 acres. Both are located in a corner of the park next to the Kokua Pool and Hale Makua and bordered by Uhu and Kaulana streets; they do not include the adjacent soccer fields.

Comments on the proposed rehabilitation facility are due by March 28 and can be sent to [email protected].

The approving agency for the project is the Maui County Department of Parks and Recreation; for more information, contact Samual Marvel at (808) 270-7230, at [email protected] or at 700 Halia Nakoa St., Unit 2, Wailuku, HI 96793.

To review the full draft EA, visit files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/erp/Doc_Library/2022-02-23-MA-DEA-Hale-Makua-Expansion-Rehabilitation-Facility.pdf.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at [email protected].