HR 163: urging MAUI HEALTH to collaborate with stakeholders to establish a FULL-TIME medical residency program on the island of maui.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	163
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

urging MAUI HEALTH to collaborate with stakeholders to establish a FULL-TIME medical residency program on the island of maui.

 

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii is experiencing a significant shortage of primary care physicians and specialists; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State's physician shortage disproportionately impacts rural areas and neighbor islands, including the island of Maui; and

 

     WHEREAS, the physician shortage on Maui was exacerbated by the 2023 Maui wildfires, which destroyed several West Maui healthcare facilities and forced some physicians and medical workers to relocate; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 2025 Hawaii Physician Workforce Report indicates that Maui County faces a critical overall physician shortage of forty-one percent, representing a deficit of approximately one hundred seventy-nine full-time equivalent physicians; and

 

     WHEREAS, the report further highlights that County of Maui suffers from a severe shortage in primary care, with a thirty-five percent deficit; and

 

     WHEREAS, the County of Maui deficit is significantly higher than the fourteen percent primary care shortage found in Hawaii County, which has been trending down since the establishment of the Hawaii Island Family Residency Program in 2014, highlighting an urgent need for Maui to establish a primary care residency program in family medicine and internal medicine; and

 

     WHEREAS, data from the 2025 report indicates that specific specialties on Maui are near collapse, including a supply of only 0.1 full-time equivalent geriatric medicine physicians against a demand for 6.1 full-time equivalents, leaving the island's aging population severely underserved; and

 

     WHEREAS, a full-time medical residency program is not currently available on Maui; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has recently been awarded $188,892,440 in federal funding for the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program to implement the Hawaii Rural Health Transformation Plan; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Rural Health Transformation Plan explicitly includes dedicated funding and initiatives designed to expand rural training sites, support residencies, and recruit and retain healthcare professionals in under-resourced neighborhoods; and

 

     WHEREAS, the availability of these specific Rural Health Transformation Program funds provides an immediate and critical financial pathway to support the high initial costs of establishing a medical residency program on Maui; and

 

     WHEREAS, securing these funds requires alignment with the State's strategic goals and coordination with the oversight team managing the implementation of the Hawaii Rural Health Transformation Plan; and

 

     WHEREAS, Maui Health is one of the island's largest health care providers, including emergency and specialist care; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, that Maui Health is urged to collaborate with the administrators of the Hawaii Rural Health Transformation Plan, the John A. Burns School of Medicine, and other stakeholders to establish a full-time medical residency program on the island of Maui; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Maui Health is specifically urged to leverage the Hawaii Rural Health Transformation Plan as a primary funding vehicle, while simultaneously identifying and securing any and all other available resources—including federal grants, state appropriations, philanthropic contributions, and private partnerships—to ensure the immediate establishment and long-term sustainability of this residency program; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that collaborators are requested to include representatives from the island's federally qualified health centers, Hana Health and Malama I Ke Ola Health Center; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Maui Health is urged to submit a report of its findings and recommendations on establishing the medical residency program, including the status of efforts to access Rural Health Transformation Program funds and other capital resources, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2027; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Mayor of the County of Maui, Dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, Chair of the Hawaii Rural Health Transformation Plan Oversight Team, Chief Executive Officer of Maui Health, Executive Director of Hana Health, and Chief Executive Officer of Malama I Ke Ola Health Center.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

 

Report Title: 

Maui; Maui Health; Medical Residency; Report