The developer of the proposed $51.5 million West Maui Hospital and Medical Center has filed for a certificate of need with the State Health Development Planning Agency seeking approval for what would be the first new hospital built in the state in 20 years.

The proposal calls for a 25-bed critical care hospital and 40-bed skilled nursing facility to be built on about 15 acres near the Lahaina Civic Center in West Maui. The effort has been supported by the West Maui Improvement Foundation, which has argued such a facility is critical to the emergency care needs of the West Maui hospital because of travel time to Maui Memorial Medical Center.

The project requires a certificate of need and a zoning change before it can proceed. Developer Newport Hospital Corp. is scheduled to go before the Maui County Council on March 18 with the zoning request.