WAILUKU, Maui — The island's healthcare community continues to buzz with activity, as plans for two new hospitals move forward and a construction project expands Maui's major medical center.

Malulani Health & Medical Center LLC filed a certificate-of-need application with the State Health Planning & Development Agency on Sept. 27 seeking approval of a 150-bed hospital in Kihei. The application is under initial review, and no public hearings have been scheduled yet.

Malulani officials, led by Maui physician Ron Kwon, last year announced plans to build a $200 million hospital on 40 acres adjacent to the Maui Research & Technology Park.

Meanwhile, the nonprofit group pushing to get a hospital built in West Maui released design plans for a $34 million, 35-bed facility, but still must secure funding and state and county approvals for the project, to be located next to the Lahaina Civic Center.

Joe Pluta, who heads the West Maui Improvement Foundation, said he hopes to get county land-use approvals by April and then immediately apply to the state agency for a certificate of need. The state approval is necessary to ensure that new healthcare facilities are needed and do not threaten the financial health of existing providers.

The island has only one acute-care hospital with an emergency room, the 200-bed Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku, one of 12 state facilities run by the quasi-public Hawai'i Health Systems Corp.

Maui Memorial CEO Wesley Lo said yesterday that he has not had a chance to analyze the Malulani application, but he remains skeptical of whether the island can support more hospitals.

One concern is that Maui Memorial would lose its federal designation as a sole community provider and the $10 million in Medicare reimbursements that go with it. Another is whether there would be enough doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to staff more than one hospital.

The West Maui Improvement Foundation Inc. has been working for at least five years to get a hospital built to serve the area's 50,000 residents and visitors. Lahaina is approximately 25 miles from Wailuku, and traffic along the two-lane highway that connects Lahaina with Central Maui is often brought to a standstill because of wrecks, brushfires and other trouble.

The Ka'anapali Development Corp. donated 15 acres for the new hospital, which would be part of the 1,154-acre Ka'anapali 2020 development that includes 2,800 residential units, a golf course, parks, a school and commercial space.

The design by Maui architect Uwe Schulz shows a 90,000-square-foot building with an emergency department, three operating suites, a diagnosticimaging department, a fully equipped laboratory and blood bank, a rehabilitation unit, outpatient dialysis, a pharmacy and a cafe, gift shop and chapel.

Pluta said the foundation is hoping to find a physicians groups to own and operate the West Maui hospital. The organization raised $500,000 in donations for initial planning and designs.

At Maui Memorial, construction is well under way on a $42 million, 75,000-square-foot expansion that is adding 30 beds, a new lobby and other features. The new wing is expected to open in August. The hospital also plans a $60 million medical office building and parking structure.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.