URGING MAUI HEALTH SYSTEM TO COLLABORATE WITH STAKEHOLDERS TO ESTABLISH A FULL-TIME MEDICAL RESIDENCY PROGRAM ON THE ISLAND OF MAUI.

HCR173

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

173

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

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

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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

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

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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

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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,

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BE
IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of
the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, the Senate concurring, 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

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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

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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

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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

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BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent 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