On Feb. 9th, the 5th Annual Kohala Hospital Charitable Foundation (KHCF) Golf Tournament will be held at the Hapuna Golf Course, sponsored by Bitburger Brewery and the Meinardus Family.
It has come to be known as the very generous and fun tournament among the golfers of Hawaii, with a very generous gift bag for everyone, as well as great prizes awarded to the golfers, and of course lot’s of great beer. Lunch will be served at Arnie’s Restaurant, and catered by the Hapuna Hotel along with Bitburger and Koestritzer Beers.
Phase II of the ER project was conceived around the time that Phase I began. It includes a waiting room, a restroom and two meeting rooms. These spaces will greatly improve efficiency and comfort for staff, patients and their families. Building permits have been obtained, allowing construction of Phase II to begin. The new foundations for Phase II are currently being formed. Subcontractors will lay conduit and pipe in reparation for the new slab. Although complex, the underground systems are a time saver, as less time will be spent routing conduit and pipe in walls when they are framed. Underground routing was not an option in Phase I as that was a remodel of an existing space.
For more information or a golf signup sheet please contact: Betty Meinardus, P.O. Box 10, Hawi, HI 96719, phone: 808-889-5304, or elsbethm@earthlink.net
According to organizers, this is a very important fundraiser for the Kohala Hospital, with 100 percent of the money taken in going to the Emergency Room Building Fund. The Foundation will tackle the biggest project of all: to relocate, enlarge and improve the Hospital’s E/R capabilities. KHCF has already raised over $300,000 of the approximately $700,000 needed. The next Big Event is the “Beer, Boots, Brats and Barbeque” Party at Kahua Ranch on June 22nd, 2012, from noon to 5:00 pm with lots of music, fun and barbecue, and a live auction.
Kohala Hospital in Kapaau has gone through many changes since the plantation days of 1917. For most of its years it was mostly a “stand alone” health care facility for North Kohala, Waimea and Kona being too far away to make much of a difference when a life was at stake, Kohala Hospital was extremely important for this community.
Fast forward to 2002. The State legislature proposes to close Kohala Hospital in a cost saving effort. This is the year that the Kohala Hospital Charitable Foundation (KHCF) was incorporated. Most of the charter members of the Foundation were aware of the threat to the hospitals continued existence and wanted to create a nonprofit, fund raising partner that would be able to dramatically increase the hospitals capabilities and at the same time send a message to the State that this community was not going to allow it to be closed.
Today, Kohala Hospital’s future is not only secure but has a much improved capability for saving lives, a better quality of life for the long term care residents, and it offers a much better and pleasant work place for its employees. KHCF’s role in this accomplishment was invaluable. Because of the Foundation’s fundraising efforts the Hospital has been able to replace all 28 patient beds, purchased portable X-Ray and ultrasound equipment, a new kitchen stove, a patient transportation van, installed a new phone system and made other infrastructure upgrades.