HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

235

TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the auditor to review state executive branch practices in determining whether to release funds appropriated by the legislature.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, Molokai General Hospital, founded in 1962, and Molokai Community Health Center, which opened in 2004, both serve the island's seven thousand residents; and

 

     WHEREAS, in January 2011, the Molokai Community Health Center stopped construction on its facility at a six-acre site in Kaunakakai because the State failed to release $1,000,000 needed to continue the project; and

 

     WHEREAS, Molokai Community Health Center, which now operates out of three separate sites, has invested $1,400,000 to expand its services by building a larger facility in Kaunakakai; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the Department of Health, the previous state administration delayed releasing the funds that the Legislature appropriated in 2009 for the Molokai Community Health Center because of budget constraints; and

 

     WHEREAS, however, some believe that resistance by Molokai General Hospital, part of The Queen's Health Systems, to the expansion of Molokai Community Health Center may have held up release of those funds; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are concerns that Molokai General Hospital and Molokai Community Health Center will duplicate health services and compete for patients and funds; and

 

     WHEREAS, the president of Molokai General Hospital was a member of the previous state administration's Department of Health Advisory Committee while the Molokai Community Health Center fought for the money to be released; and

 

WHEREAS, although the current state administration has indicated that it will release the funds needed to complete the expansion of Molokai Community Health Center, greater transparency in the decision to release or withhold appropriated funds would resolve uncertainties and increase public confidence; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the Auditor is requested to review the policies and procedures of the state executive branch in determining whether to release funds appropriated by the Legislature; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to focus its review on the initial decision of the previous state administration to withhold funds appropriated in 2009 for the expansion of the Molokai Community Health Center; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2012; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of Health, the Auditor, the Executive Director of Molokai Community Health Center, and the President of Molokai General Hospital.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Auditor Review; Molokai Community Health Center; Withholding of Appropriated Funds