Archive for category: Updates

As a member of our community, I stand with our frontline health care workers and the rest of our Maui community. We call on Kaiser Permanente to immediately hold off on any plans to close the Gastroenterology and Ambulatory Surgery services at its Wailuku Clinic until the State of Hawaii and State Department of Health conduct a full and public discussion through the State’s Certificate of Need review process to explore the consequences of Kaiser’s proposed closure of services.

Background

A message from UNITE HERE Local 5 & HNHP:

When Kaiser Permanente took over Maui Memorial Medical Center in 2016, Kaiser promised to improve continuity of care and reduce wait times for Maui residents’ health care.

Kaiser is breaking that promise.

Kaiser announced in August 2020 plans to close the Gastroenterology and Ambulatory Surgery services at their Wailuku Clinic.  This plan will remove several operating rooms from Maui’s health care system and put new load on the operating rooms at Maui Memorial Medical Center.

We are of course devastated by the potential loss of jobs at a time when Maui is experiencing its highest unemployment rates in memory, and when experienced health care workers remain crucial to rebuilding the health and safety of our community.  But we are equally concerned for patients and Maui’s health.

Kaiser’s plan to shut down services at Wailuku Clinic raises obvious questions about how this move will affect the waiting time for patient procedures and treatment.  Making patients move to a different facility and receive treatment from different care provider teams raises questions about the continuity of care for Maui people.

All of Maui’s population will be affected by this move, as Kaiser patients will now have to join the patients already seeking care at the limited remaining options on the island. Hawaii taxpayers will have concerns as well—Maui Memorial Medical Center receives millions of dollars a year in State tax dollars.

Thank you to all our supporters in the community, and mahalo for standing with us.

Thanks to everyone who submitted testimony last week to support Bill 80, which requires daily hotel room cleaning and puts in place a process for hospitality workers who initially lost their jobs due to COVID-19 to be the first offered their jobs back as business returns.

Because of your testimony, Bill 80 was approved in 1^st reading and will now be heard at the Honolulu City Council Committee on Executive Matters hearing next Tuesday, October 20 at 1:00pm.

We need you to submit testimony again to support Bill 80 ASAP. Over 1,580 people submitted testimony to support Bill 80 last week. Sadly, many hotel managers opposed Bill 80.

Follow the directions below to submit testimony to support Bill 80 directly to City Council:

1. Go to: http://www.honolulu.gov/ccl-testimony-form.html
2. Under “Name,” enter your full name.
3. Under “Phone” and “Email,” enter your correct contact info. This is required info.
4. Under “Meeting Date,” enter: 10-20-2020.
5. Under “Council/PH Committee,” select: Executive Matters and Legal Affairs.
6. Under “Agenda Item,” enter: Bill 80.
7. Under “Your position on the matter,” select: Support.
8. Under “Representing,” select: Self.
9. Under “Written Testimony,” you can copy/paste the following or share why you’re supporting Bill 80:

Chair Menor and Members of the Committee on Executive Matters & Legal Affairs:

First of all, I want to thank you and your six colleagues that supported Bill 80 on first reading.  This is an important bill, especially given the prolonged impact of the pandemic and recent news regarding even more workers being permanently laid off.  On the same day that we “reopened” our State to visitors, the State’s food concession contractor at our airports laid off more than 600 hospitality workers.

I support Bill 80.  Bill 80 is about ensuring fairness for workers and our families, and its shameful that some in the hotel industry are so opposed to the bill.  Bill 80 doesn’t require businesses to do anything extraordinary other than make a commitment to workers that the jobs they once had could be there for them as business returns.  More importantly, why do we – as a community – have to fight so hard to convince our policy makers to support workers versus the corporations?  Workers are struggling.  We’re the ones in line at food distribution events, we’re the ones that have lost health care and haven’t worked for more than 6 months.

Cities all across our country, from Baltimore to Los Angeles have all passed similar measures.  So, why are hotel bosses so opposed to bringing back workers as business returns?  And why are they so opposed to offering daily room service when it’s known that cleaning high touch surfaces minimizes the risk of contact transmission of the COVID-19 virus?

For once, we need to know that you’ll stand with us too.

Thank you.

• Under “Accept Terms and Agreements,” check the checkbox.
• Enter the security code shown on your screen.

Here’s what it looks like on your computer or on your phone:

The main value to Hawai’i in promoting tourism is the creation of jobs for our people. Bill 80 was introduced to Honolulu City Council—if it passes, it will put in place a process for hospitality workers who initially lost their jobs due to COVID-19 to first be offered their jobs back as business returns.

Bill 80 will have its first hearing this Wednesday, October 7. Submit testimony to support Bill 80 ASAP by filling out the email form below:

TESTIMONY IS NOW CLOSED FOR THE 1ST HEARING. But click here for instructions on how to submit testimony for the next hearing.