{"id":1990,"date":"2026-06-30T07:05:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T07:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1990"},"modified":"2026-06-30T07:05:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T07:05:40","slug":"city-funds-homeless-medical-respite-centers-after-state-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1990","title":{"rendered":"City funds homeless medical respite centers after state cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The City and County of Honolulu is funding two medical respite centers for homeless residents after state lawmakers ended support.<\/p>\n

Read more Woman arrested in Zablan Beach stabbing released, no charges filed<\/a><\/p>\n

The Leahi Behavioral and Medical Respite Center in Kaimuki and the Aala Respite and Urgent Care in Chinatown could have been forced to shut down this week if the city didn\u2019t step up, potentially sending 84 patients to hospitals or urgent care centers.<\/p>\n

Patients describe impact<\/h2>\n

Patients described repeated hospitalizations before arriving at the facilities. The respite centers have full time medical staff. <\/p>\n

\u201cI rode a number of ambulances and I\u2019ve been to all the hospitals,\u201d said Gerald Hamada, a 78-year old with a heart condition and rheumatoid arthritis. He lived in Ala Moana Beach Park before he found the respite center. He had his wallet stolen and couldn\u2019t afford to get to doctor appointments. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

A 60-year old woman, who didn\u2019t want her name used, said she was living in her car after medical bills left her homeless. The wheelchair-bound woman was discharged from the hospital but still unable to walk. <\/p>\n

Ronald Nakanishi credited the Leahi center with his recovery after brain cancer left the 57-year old unable to work. \u201cThis place rehabilitated me. They got me all my drugs. They got me food every day,\u201d Nakanishi said.<\/p>\n

Nakanishi said the staff also helped him find permanent housing. He\u2019s expected to move in to a rental place in Pearl City later this week.<\/p>\n

State cuts threatened closures<\/h2>\n

There are currently 22 patients at Leahi. The Aala Respite Center is at capacity with 62 patients. <\/p>\n

Both centers were in danger of closing this week after state lawmakers cut $8 million in funding. The City and County of Honolulu responded with approximately $3.5 million to keep the programs running.<\/p>\n

Read more Suspect in Kailua drive-by shooting charged<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe found enough money for this whole fiscal year,\u201d said Anton Krucky, director of the city\u2019s Office of Housing and Homelessness, \u201cSo what I\u2019m going to have to do is some contract extensions, move things around. But we decided that it was a higher priority for those two locations because they were already beds in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Centers ease pressure on hospitals and 911 systems<\/h2>\n

Physicians connected to the centers said the facilities reduce emergency room crowding and cut down on EMS calls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the people that are filling up the emergency rooms in Queen\u2019s hospital right now,\u201d said Dr. Scott Miscovich. \u201cWe\u2019re probably approaching $40 million in savings from all the stoppages of the EMS calls and the unnecessary ER visits.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Dr. James Ireland, Honolulu Emergency Services Department director, said patients at the centers would otherwise cycle back to the streets after hospital stays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019d be nowhere to go,\u201d Ireland said, noting that the centers offer patients shelter while they receive medical care.<\/p>\n

Both centers also offer drug detox programs.<\/p>\n

Expansion plans on hold<\/h2>\n

The city\u2019s decision to redirect funding does come with a trade-off. Plans to add a second HONU outreach program on the island are now on hold.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Both respite centers plan to expand at some point but will need continued funding to do so.<\/p>\n

Read more July 4: A holiday with two histories in Hawaii<\/a><\/p>\n

Previous coverage<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Both centers were in danger of closing this week after state lawmakers cut $8 million in funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCity funds homeless medical respite centers after state cuts - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1990\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"City funds homeless medical respite centers after state cuts - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Both centers were in danger of closing this week after state lawmakers cut $8 million in funding.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1990\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T07:05:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1990#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1990\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"City funds homeless medical respite centers after state cuts\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T07:05:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1990\"},\"wordCount\":553,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1990#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0c65e19c0bc57c97ccc1c585fcefd248.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1990#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1990\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1990\",\"name\":\"City funds homeless medical respite centers after state cuts - 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