After two years of construction at Hilo Benioff Medical Center, progress on its expansion is becoming increasingly visible, with several new facilities slated to be completed by the end of this year.
Among the new facilities are a new medical office building, expanded intensive and progressive care units, and a renovated family birthing center.
The work is part of a $100 million expansion and renovation project that broke ground in April 2024, made possible by a $50 million donation from billionaire philanthropists Marc and Lynne Benioff and another $50 million from the state Legislature.
鈥淭he expansion is a milestone project for us. It鈥檚 the first true expansion of space on campus in over 40 years, and we think we鈥檝e maximized everything that we can do with the space that we鈥檝e had,鈥� said Kris Wilson, the chief information officer for HBMC.
On a recent morning, workers were busy moving furniture into the new medical office building, just across the street from the main campus. It will be the first of the projects to open with a grand opening ceremony scheduled for June.
In addition to office spaces, urgent care will be relocated to the first floor, which will allow specialty care services including oncology to expand. It will be connected to the two existing medical office buildings via covered walkways.
On the other side of Waianuenue Avenue, construction crews were at work on a new wing of the hospital that will add approximately 66,000 square feet of space, a new covered parking structure, and 55 more beds. Of those, 19 will be in the intensive care unit and 36 in progressive care.
鈥淭hat metric of the amount of ICU beds that we have really does touch on the amount of critical care that we鈥檙e able to provide,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 not just a single statistic. That really does kind of encompass what we can provide for the East 91直播 region, and that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 just so important to us.鈥�
The additional space will help to address capacity challenges the hospital has faced in recent years that have resulted in hallways and administrative spaces being used as overflow to fit additional beds.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been not ideal, but at least we鈥檝e had them,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淏ut this will be a really great addition when we can get folks into patient rooms.鈥�
The new rooms will also be significantly more spacious than the existing ones. Construction on this section of the campus is expected to be complete by the end of this year and ready for use in early 2027.
Wilson said that the expansion is allowing the hospital to reshuffle and reorganize departments in a way that makes more sense and allows for better care. This includes renovating the second floor of the hospital to create a 13,000-square-foot family birthing center, which is also scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
鈥淚t will provide 14 beds for our family birthing unit, and that will really expand the patient experience and the birthing experience, to have all of those components from labor, delivery and postpartum care, all happen within one room.鈥�
She said that is something that has been in high demand from the community.
鈥淲e got a lot of input from our community, and our community really wanted that all in one service,鈥� she said.
She said that all of the expansion plans and changes are being made with community needs in mind, which have changed significantly over the past decade.
鈥淥ver seven years ago, we did a campus assessment, and then we did a facility assessment and projected growth in East 91直播,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen we did those projections, we really saw that we would outpace the amount of beds that we had in the current facility, and we started to build our plans around that.鈥�
While Wilson acknowledged that the ongoing construction has posed some challenges to patients and staff, she said the response has been largely positive.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had just tremendous support,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he community, I feel, really rallied around this effort and is going through the growing pains with us 鈥� finding parking, trying to navigate up and down Waianuenue and in front of the hospital 鈥� but I experienced nothing but just really positive community support.鈥�
Elena Cabatu, director of public affairs for HBMC, echoed that sentiment, adding they have worked hard to minimize disruption of patient care.
鈥淭he staff really being flexible, being resilient in all of the change that鈥檚 happening, we really couldn鈥檛 have done it without them 鈥� and also the patients, too,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have to make it happen, we have to deliver care, even when we鈥檙e under huge transformation. So, it鈥檚 kudos to everybody.鈥�
Email Grace Inez Adams at grace.adams@hawaiitribune-herald.com.