| 1946 |
| Healthcare on the Waianae Coast was provided by the Waianae Sugar Mill dispensary. The population averaged 6,000 people. |
 |
| Waianae’s sugar mill closed, leaving Waianae Coast residents without medical facilities. Residents were forced to travel to Honolulu to see a doctor; the journey took 11/2 hours each way. Only the very ill sought care. |
| 1964 |
| State statistics identified Waianae as having a poor health and disease profile and a high infant mortality rate. The State began delivering part-time maternal and infant care from a small building in Nanakuli.There were two part-time MDs practicing in Waianae. Kaiser Clinic opened in Maili (for Kaiser members). |
| 1966 |
| Concerned residents formed a Health Task Force (HTF) to plan for better health services/more doctors on the Coast to meet the needs of the growing population, then estimated at 18,000 people. |
| 1968 |
| The federal Housing and Urban Development Department designated Waianae and Nanakuli as a Model Cities area. |
| 1969 |
The State Legislature guaranteed a salary of $25,000 per year to any doctor who would practice in Waianae (Act 299). The HTF was successful in bringing a doctor to the Coast who practiced in the Maili Ola Clinic. The doctor left within the year.The HTF, with assistance from the University of Hawaii School of Medicine, developed a Program Concept that identified the needs of the community:
- a comprehensive health center,
- home health care, and
- a hospital.
This document was the basis for acquiring Model Cities monies.
The HTF incorporated as the Waianae District Comprehensive Health and Hospital Board, Inc. The Board was intended to be the policy-making body for the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. |
| 1970 |
| A public election was held for the first Board of Directors of the Waianae District Comprehensive Health and Hospital Board, Inc.
Membership in the corporation was and continues to be open to all residents 18 years and older who have an interest in health.
The Model Cities program provided $84,000 in seed money for the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center Project, and the Board hired a core planning staff in late 1970. The planning objective was to secure land and obtain funds to build and operate the Health Center. The Health Center site was acquired through the Hawaiian Home Lands and Department of Land and Natural Resources. Funding to build the first phase of the Health Center was obtained through the Model Cities program.Project Directors were Robert Lawton and Ray Lilly.
There were two more doctors practicing in Waianae– still not enough for the growing population of some 24,000 people. |