Puna Community Medical Center Foundation

by Raydiance Joy Grace

WE ARE BUILDING A HOSPITAL IN PUNA!

Information from the PCMCF website 

Photos by PCMCF Staff, Members, Volunteers

The Opening Shot of the PCMC Campus shows the site and what they want to build! 

The Puna Community Medical Center Foundation has been working since 2008 to build a Hospital in Puna with an Emergency Room, a Surgical and Radiology Department, 25 Hospital Beds, a Women’s Health Center, a Dental Clinic,  and the Dane Silva Hawaiian Healing Center. The site will include Puna’s only Wastewater Treatment Plant and a 2-acre Solar Farm.

Site Plan for PCMCF

The mission of the Puna Community Medical Center Foundation is to promote and support the Puna Community Medical Center in providing readily accessible health care to the residents of, and visitors to, the Puna district in Hawaii.

 All the people who inspired, and co-created PCMCF

It is 2 pm in Seaview where I live. I called Urgent Care in Pahoa wanting to know if I would be able to see a doctor that afternoon. I have an unknown rash spreading on my torso and being a frequent swimmer in Pohoiki warm ponds, I wanted to know what it was as I know there are infectious bacteria in warm ponds. I was told that they can only see three more patients and if I can get there before their quota is met, I can be seen. However, they suggested I wait till Saturday morning if I want to be sure to be seen.

Urgent Care in Pahoa 

In another scenario, I just had a heart procedure at the Hilo Medical Hospital where I was given a new pharmaceutical drug to regulate my heart rate. It was too strong and I was experiencing my heart rate dropping. I called 911 to get an ambulance and had to wait 45 minutes for them to get to my house, and another 45 minutes to get to the emergency room in Hilo. It was through the grace of God I made it. These scenarios are common when living anywhere in Puna. The need for a hospital and emergency room closer to Puna has been evident for a long time. Several years ago, I heard about the possibility of a hospital being built here in Puna District in Hawaii.  After I investigated their website, PCMCF.COM, and read the impressive credentials, education, training, and background of the founding members, I knew it was going to happen!

Photo 5:  PCMCF Board of Directors; President- Steve Sparks, Vice-President Darlene Viggiano, Ph.D. (MFT), Treasurer-Ralph Boyer, Secretary-David Bruce Leonard, Ariel Murphy- Real Estate Specialist, Hart Miller- Family Medicine  Physician.

Steve Sparks became aware of the importance of health care when he ran for Congress in 2008. Everyone he talked to during his campaign mentioned the need for better health care in Puna. The Bay Clinic was inadequate to support the needs of the Puna community. In 2006 Dr. Dan Dimizio, with the assistance of Dr. Hart Miller, started the Puna Community Medical Center in the old Malama shopping center. Subsequently, they collaborated with Rene Siracusa, founder and longtime president of Malama O Puna, Charlie Moss, an architect, and a local realtor, and William Waglecky. They started a foundation that became PCMCF in 2013 when the current property acquired from the DLNR was leased and the PCMCF was physically born!

Dr. Dan Dimizio, co-originator of the Puna Community Medical Center and the PCMCF.

The Hospital–Medical Campus location is on Highway 130 at the 9-mile marker, 0.9 miles towards Hilo from the Pahoa roundabout and across the highway from public water spigots. Puna Community Medical Campus will include an Emergency Room, Women’s Health Services, Dental Services, Native Hawaiian Healing Center, Kipuka Garden, which will represent the best services a rural hospital can provide residents and visitors.

Kipuka Garden the first phase of development of the Hawaiian healing center.  (Plants & shed on-site at PCMCF)

The Kipuka Garden is part of the first phase of development of the Hawaiian healing center. This herb garden, or mala la’au is the foundation for the self-care support program, which will include a source of Hawaiian plants for medicine and food. The mala serves as a nursery of la’au and as a living classroom, for ohana and kupuna. One goal is to provide kupuna with plants to use in their home gardens, for their self-care. The Kipuka Garden was created by Kumu Dane Kaohelani Silva. Kumu Dane was a kahuna la’au lapa’au, following in the footsteps of his kupuna, who were leaders in Hawaiian medicine and healing arts. Sadly, Dane has since passed on November 27, 2022.

Kumu Dane Kaohelani Silva, creator of Kipuka Garden 

The Kipuka Farmacy always needs more volunteers to work in the gardens. At this time, anyone who is interested can come to the site on Mondays at 10 am to join Luana Jones and other local volunteers to work on the grounds and learn about some of these healing plants in the process.

The Puna Community Medical Center Complex will improve the economic and physical health of the people of Puna. It will employ more than 220 people in well-paying jobs: 24 Doctors, 60 Nurses, 15 Nurses Assistants, 10-12 LPN/PAs,  ten Orderlies, at least two Lab Techs, two Rehab Specialists, four Administrators, two Assistant Administrators, four Data Processors, four Secretaries, two Janitorial Managers, five Janitors,  a Kitchen Manager, with two Assistants, a kitchen staff, and 20 Maintenance staff.

The Women’s Health Center, Dental Clinic, and Dane Silva Hawaiian Healing Center will employ 20 or more people. Generating an estimated $20,000,000.00 in revenue annually in Puna.

Check from HMSA for $1,000 

DONATIONS, DONATIONS, DONATIONS!

In Steve Sparks, President of PCMCF own words, “This project is happening with the on-going financial support of the whole community. I am dedicating my life to raising money to get this hospital built. What we need the most, in addition to money, is Volunteers”. If you are interested in volunteering at any level, 

call Steve Sparks, 808 937-7234.

Another way to support  PCMCF is to write letters of support to county, state and federal representatives stating, for example

Dear Senator Schatz,

I live in Puna and we need better medical care. I support the building of the Puna Community Medical Center Campus. Please fund the Appropriations Request for the infrastructure of our much-needed facility.  Thank you.

Send to: [email protected] for Representative Jill Tokuda [email protected] for Senator Brian Schatz 

NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION (Include Zip Code)
Phone calls work well too! Show your support for the Puna Hospital by calling:

Senator Brian Schatz at 202 224 3934 in Washington or 808 523 2061 in Honolulu

Senator Mazie Hirono at 202 224 6361 in Washington or 808 522 8970 in Honolulu

Representative Jill Tokuda at 202 225 4906 in Washington or 808 746 6220 in Honolulu

PCMCF. Org is asking for your support to take the next crucial steps! Your donation will directly go to finalizing the Medical Campus design and have an impact on the health and well-being of our community, facilitating the construction of vital facilities, while bringing long-term jobs to Puna.

Here’s how you can make a significant impact:

One-time Donation: Your one-time contribution, regardless of size, will immediately bolster our fundraising efforts. 

Monthly Pledges: Consider making a recurring monthly pledge to provide ongoing, sustained support, helping us plan and allocate resources efficiently. 

Corporate Sponsorship: If you represent a business or organization, explore the possibility of corporate sponsorship, becoming an integral part of our community’s healthcare legacy. It is estimated that to build the Hospital and all the necessary additions, we will need to raise $140,000,000 to $168,000,000.

Go to website, PCMCF.org for the Donation Button 

or ​mail to: PCMC Foundation at P.O. Box 1082, ​Pahoa, HI 96778

​MAHALO FOR YOUR KOKUA

A lone Ohia-lehua tree represents the resiliency and the determination that comes back in new growth on the Island of Hawaii after a volcanic eruption!