Maui air ambulance finally ready for liftoff
Maui air ambulance finally ready for liftoff
- - Maui News
By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS, Staff Writer
WAILUKU - Ambulance service via helicopter will return to Maui shortly, with Gov. Linda Lingle signing legislation Wednesday to allow a state/county-funded program to be launched.
Lingle signed the legislation during her weekly radio show, which was being broadcast Wednesday from Koho Grill & Bar, with about 35 people making up a live audience.
Mayor Alan Arakawa accepted the bill that deals with language on state liability in supporting a county helicopter ambulance after Lingle signed it. "It's going to be a tremendous benefit. . . . It'll save lives," Arakawa said.
During the morning radio show, broadcast on Maui over KAOI 1110 AM, Lingle was asked to respond to a number of issues including a Honolulu Advertiser column critical of the governor; her memories of the late President Ronald Reagan; her views on President Bush's repeal of the estate tax law; and affordable health insurance for low-income families.
Lingle explained that she had arrived on Maui the day before to attend meetings in Kihei and Lahaina, as well as an evening fund-raiser marking her 51st birthday.
But the helicopter ambulance legislation and her dispute with the Legislature were a primary subject of the discussions.
Maui County previously had a private helicopter ambulance service, but the company pulled out after nearly two years, citing inadequate revenues from the service.
Arakawa, who last year made reviving a helicopter ambulance a top priority for his administration, allocated half of the cost in the county's budget and had an agreement with the state to share in funding the program. But Lingle abruptly vetoed the original state legislation last year saying Attorney General Mark Bennett had raised concerns that the state would be liable if it did not provide the same service for all Neighbor Island counties.
(Helicopter ambulance services are provided on Oahu through an arrangement with the military.)
Although the Legislature overrode Lingle's veto, she said she would not release the funds without an amendment of the law to protect the state from liability for providing the service in only one county.
After a sometimes bitter feud during the past legislative session, a new bill was approved and sent to the governor to make clear the state was not liable for providing helicopter ambulance services to other counties. The bill received final approval in April from a House-Senate conference committee.
Bennett said in April that the final language resolves concerns he had raised over the potential for the state being sued for not providing the service on Kauai, the only area in Hawaii that will be without the service once Maui County's service is operational.
The new language states: "The state shall not be liable for any claim of injury or death based on a failure to establish or continue emergency aeromedical services in any part of the state or in any county, including the failure of the Department of Health to establish aeromedical services."
With the new language, Lingle will release $611,500 to fund the helicopter and its operations, with Maui County chipping in an equal amount with the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
Arakawa said his administration spent hundreds of hours lobbying for the legislation as well as helping with logistics to get the ambulance service running on Maui.
He said the delay in legislative approval resulted in the county and state losing out on the purchase of two helicopters that were used for medical purposes on Kahoolawe during the federal government cleanup.
He said one of the helicopters on Kahoolawe was dismantled, but government officials were able to negotiate for the purchase of the back-up emergency medical helicopter.
Arakawa said that had the legislative approval been done earlier, the county might have been able to negotiate for both helicopters. "We would have had two for the price of one," he said.
Along with the helicopter bill, Lingle on Wednesday signed into law two other bills affecting Maui organizations. One was the authorization of up to $10 million in special purpose revenue bonds to finance school improvements at the Montessori School of Maui in Makawao. Another bill authorizes $9.5 million in special purpose revenue bonds to assist Haleakala Waldorf School in financing its educational facilities.
The special purpose revenue bonds will be paid back by the schools, but are financed through the state to get a more favorable interest rate.
Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.
- - Maui News
By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS, Staff Writer
WAILUKU - Ambulance service via helicopter will return to Maui shortly, with Gov. Linda Lingle signing legislation Wednesday to allow a state/county-funded program to be launched.
Lingle signed the legislation during her weekly radio show, which was being broadcast Wednesday from Koho Grill & Bar, with about 35 people making up a live audience.
Mayor Alan Arakawa accepted the bill that deals with language on state liability in supporting a county helicopter ambulance after Lingle signed it. "It's going to be a tremendous benefit. . . . It'll save lives," Arakawa said.
During the morning radio show, broadcast on Maui over KAOI 1110 AM, Lingle was asked to respond to a number of issues including a Honolulu Advertiser column critical of the governor; her memories of the late President Ronald Reagan; her views on President Bush's repeal of the estate tax law; and affordable health insurance for low-income families.
Lingle explained that she had arrived on Maui the day before to attend meetings in Kihei and Lahaina, as well as an evening fund-raiser marking her 51st birthday.
But the helicopter ambulance legislation and her dispute with the Legislature were a primary subject of the discussions.
Maui County previously had a private helicopter ambulance service, but the company pulled out after nearly two years, citing inadequate revenues from the service.
Arakawa, who last year made reviving a helicopter ambulance a top priority for his administration, allocated half of the cost in the county's budget and had an agreement with the state to share in funding the program. But Lingle abruptly vetoed the original state legislation last year saying Attorney General Mark Bennett had raised concerns that the state would be liable if it did not provide the same service for all Neighbor Island counties.
(Helicopter ambulance services are provided on Oahu through an arrangement with the military.)
Although the Legislature overrode Lingle's veto, she said she would not release the funds without an amendment of the law to protect the state from liability for providing the service in only one county.
After a sometimes bitter feud during the past legislative session, a new bill was approved and sent to the governor to make clear the state was not liable for providing helicopter ambulance services to other counties. The bill received final approval in April from a House-Senate conference committee.
Bennett said in April that the final language resolves concerns he had raised over the potential for the state being sued for not providing the service on Kauai, the only area in Hawaii that will be without the service once Maui County's service is operational.
The new language states: "The state shall not be liable for any claim of injury or death based on a failure to establish or continue emergency aeromedical services in any part of the state or in any county, including the failure of the Department of Health to establish aeromedical services."
With the new language, Lingle will release $611,500 to fund the helicopter and its operations, with Maui County chipping in an equal amount with the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
Arakawa said his administration spent hundreds of hours lobbying for the legislation as well as helping with logistics to get the ambulance service running on Maui.
He said the delay in legislative approval resulted in the county and state losing out on the purchase of two helicopters that were used for medical purposes on Kahoolawe during the federal government cleanup.
He said one of the helicopters on Kahoolawe was dismantled, but government officials were able to negotiate for the purchase of the back-up emergency medical helicopter.
Arakawa said that had the legislative approval been done earlier, the county might have been able to negotiate for both helicopters. "We would have had two for the price of one," he said.
Along with the helicopter bill, Lingle on Wednesday signed into law two other bills affecting Maui organizations. One was the authorization of up to $10 million in special purpose revenue bonds to finance school improvements at the Montessori School of Maui in Makawao. Another bill authorizes $9.5 million in special purpose revenue bonds to assist Haleakala Waldorf School in financing its educational facilities.
The special purpose revenue bonds will be paid back by the schools, but are financed through the state to get a more favorable interest rate.
Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.
posted by DP at 10:35 PM
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