The Kauaʻi Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waimea has received a $10.6 million grant for its MRI suite, which will bring the number of MRI machines on the island up to two.
The only machine before this addition was at the Wilcox Medical Center in Līhuʻe, which meant patients faced months-long wait times or had to travel to Oʻahu for necessary tests and screenings.
The new grant comes from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, which strives to improve access to health care in rural areas. Trustee Walter Panzirer stated that all residents should have equal access to care, regardless of their ZIP code.
“One MRI is not enough for this island. I've seen it way too often where people don't access health care because it's not available because of financial burdens, and those have negative health care outcomes,” Panzirer said. “I'm super excited about that, being able to keep families together, being able to do diagnostics locally to make sure all have equal access to the highest quality health care.”
The new MRI machine features breast imaging services that will help detect signs of cancer earlier. Wilcox Medical Center upgraded its MRI machine last year with a similar grant from the Helmsley Trust, which expanded these services to an island other than Oʻahu.
Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke spoke about a personal experience with her husband, who would’ve faced a high risk of stroke if he hadn’t had the proper screenings.
“These are things that people, until it happens, will never appreciate. It’s your grandma, it’s your son, it’s your friend, your relative — we are trying to make sure they have a fulfilling life. And you can only have that fulfilling life with the right type of health care and with the right type of access,” Luke said.
An additional $631,000 from the trust was given for the hospital’s simulation learning lab, which Panzirer said will be a “safe space” for students, staff, and physicians to learn through hands-on practice before they enter high-risk situations.
