Hawaii Medical Center's two Oahu hospitals are winding down operations, after a deal to sell them fell through today in bankruptcy court.
And Friday afternoon, Emergency Medical Services found out they can no longer bring their ambulance patients to HMC East and West.
HMC West had the second busiest ER in the state, as far as the amount of patients they got by ambulance.
So that'll have a huge impact, affecting everyone who lives from Ewa all the way out to the Waianae Coast.
Friday night EMS readied these three extra ambulances.
Two of them will be deployed to the Ewa area, and the third will go to the Waianae Coast as backups.
"Because those ambulances will now have to transport patients further Diamond Head either to Pali Momi or Wahiawa or even Kaiser, Tripler, or town," said Dr. James Ireland, EMS Director.
HMC West is the only hospital on the Ewa side, and would treat ambulance patients from Ewa, Ewa Beach, Kapolei, Makakilo, Nanakuli, Waianae, and sometimes Waipahu.
"City and County takes about 18 patients a day by ambulance to HMC West," said Ireland.
When asked if there will be enough beds at the other hospitals to accommodate the patients they can't drop off at HMC, Dr. Ireland replied,"I think there's enough capacity on the island to take care of that. It's just how those patients will be distributed to the other hospitals."
HMC East in Liliha is also no longer accepting ambulance patients, but that won't have as great of an impact since there are several other hospitals nearby.
"It's sad news. I enjoy this hospital. I've always had good service here," said Phillip Chun, HMC East patient.
Almost one thousand HMC East and West employees will lose their jobs.
"You know it's just before Christmas and potentially a lot of people are going to have to find employment so our hearts go out to them as well," said Ireland.
This shouldn't discourage you from calling 911.
The City's ambulances have advanced life support capabilities, so it's still a much better option than having a family member or friend drive you to the hospital in an emergency.
