The Kona Community Hospital on Hawaiʻi Island is putting the finishing touches on a new on-site oncology center, which hospital leaders hope will better meet the needs of nearby cancer patients.
The new wing is double the size of the hospital's current oncology facility and adds six infusion chairs and several exam rooms.
Amy Feeley-Austin is the chief operating officer for Kona Hospital and Kohala Hospital, which fall under the West Hawaiʻi Region of the state’s community hospital system.
Feeley-Austin said that in the last four years, the number of cancer patients treated annually at Kona Hospital has climbed by 43%.
To serve these patients, the hospital has hired a hematologist-oncologist, a radiation oncologist, and a nurse practitioner specializing in oncology. All three specialists are based full-time at Kona Hospital.
"We know it's important for patients to have a permanent provider, somebody that they can rely on will be here for the entirety of their treatment," Feeley-Austin said.
While Kona Hospital is seeing more cancer patients than ever before, Feeley-Austin said data suggests there are still people who live in the vicinity of Kona Hospital who are driving to Hilo or flying to Honolulu for care.
She hopes the new center allows West Hawaiʻi residents to receive treatment closer to home.
"We want people to know that we have a much more robust contingent of providers now and beautiful spaces for them to come to," she said. "So if they are able to and wish to, they certainly can come to Kona hospital for their care."
The new center is expected to open in mid-March. Until then, Kona Hospital will be treating patients in their current space with no interruption in care.
