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V. 24 • No. 21 • May 18, 2015
YEAR ONE: QMC–West O‘ahu Celebrates!
Special Edition Highlights
History & First Year
ON MAY 20, 2014, the day The Queen’s
Medical Center – West O‘ahu opened, the
medcomm crackled to life one minute after
the 8:00 am opening alerting the ER staff
that an ambulance was coming. It arrived
at 8:09. One patient tried to come earlier at
midnight and was asked to come back at
Celebrating Your
Hospital’s First Year
By Susan R. Murray, FACHE
QHS Senior Vice President, West O‘ahu
Region, & Chief Operating Officer QMC-WO
A BABY’S FIRST BIRTHDAY is so important
in Hawai‘i because it symbolizes survival
and a life that will thrive. Similarly, The
Queen’s Medical Center – West O‘ahu
has had a wonderful first year, and I think
it’s been a successful and healthy start
to its life out here. Our first anniversary is
really the birthday of the Queen’s legacy
in the West O‘ahu region. That legacy
brings with it the Queen’s Mission to provide quality health care to Native Hawaiians and all the people of Hawai‘i—and
our CARE Values of Compassion, Aloha,
Respect, and Excellence.
the 8:00 am opening time. He had waited
for two days even if he wasn’t feeling well,
just so he could come to QMC – West
O‘ahu. He was one of the first patients
through the doors of the brand new hospiBut we couldn’t
have done it without the support
of the West O‘ahu
community, which
has been so welcoming and invested in our success.
They’ve given us
their input and entrusted us with their
care. The community support from business leaders, employers, and individuals
has been deeply touching on so many of
levels, and I feel that these relationships
will only become stronger.
We couldn’t have done it without the
support of many others as well. Our West
O‘ahu staff did whatever needed to be
done with loving hearts, whether it was in
their job descriptions or not. The Queen’s
staff in Honolulu gave tremendously of their
tal. Excitement was high the first day. Another patient said they would go nowhere
else but Queen’s. If the new hospital had
not been Queen’s, she would have driven
to Honolulu. On opening day, five ambulances delivered patients within the first
30 minutes, and eight total by the end of
the first hour. By the end of the first day,
(Continued on page 2)
time, talent, and energy. West O‘ahu community physicians partnered with Queen’s
physicians to build a medical staff to care
for the community and continue to do
so. The Queen’s Board of Trustees and
Queen’s administrators gave us all the support and encouragement we needed, and
entrusted the monumental task of launching a brand new hospital to us.
I will forever be grateful to all of you. But
the most important thing that has come out
of this first year is that a hospital was built
for you—it’s your hospital. It’s everybody’s
hospital. And we will grow based on the
community’s needs. We are excited about
the future, about the next chapter of The
Queen’s Medical Center – West O‘ahu.
YEAR ONE: QMC-WO
(Continued from page 1.)
99 patients had been seen in the ER, and
there were 35 outpatient visits. In the first
seven days, there were 940 ER visits, 126
inpatient admissions, and 51 transports to
Queen’s in Honolulu.
QMC – West O‘ahu was hitting the
ground running, but in the first year,
more services were being added to better serve the community. The Queen’s
Medical Center – West O‘ahu Physicians’
Center opened in the Clincal Service
Building, which adjoins the hospital. The
center provides physicians who specialize in surgery, neurology, gastroenterology, and cardiology. The physicians see
outpatients, as well as care for inpatients
at QMC – West O‘ahu. In addition, the
Queen’s Comprehensive Weight Management Program began seeing bariatric
surgery patients at the Physicians Office
Building – West O‘ahu specialty clinic.
Another new development happened
over the summer of 2014. TheBus agreed
to alter its Route 44 Waipahu-Ewa Beach
bus and put a bus stop right in front of
the Clinical Services Center at QMC –
West O‘ahu. Now bus riders would be
able to get off and be picked up in front
of the hospital instead of having to walk
in from Fort Weaver Road.
QMC – West O‘ahu has been attending many health fairs and other community events since the acquisition. One of
the biggest was the Women’s Health and
Wellness Fair, which Queen’s – West O‘ahu
organized and held in October at the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu. The
fair featured informative health lectures by
Queen’s physicians, health and wellness
tables, blood pressure checks, diabetes
The emergency room provides care to 99 patients on Day One.
Since opening day, Imaging hours have been
expanded by 25% due to the demand.
Telemetry on the 4th floor.
(Continued on page 3.)
The staff of the QMC-WO Physicians’ Center.
Fresh Market, QMC-WO’s farmers market.
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TheBus is rerouted to stop in front of QMC-WO.
Women’s Health
Fair (also above).
Queen’s – West O‘ahu ORs Built for Today & Future
THE QUEEN’S MEDICAL CENTER – West
O‘ahu’s four operating rooms were built
with the future in mind, but are a huge benefit to both patients and physicians today.
Patients will find that Queen’s – West
O‘ahu is conveniently located right in their
own community, so they won’t have to
fight traffic to get there. Family members
will also find it convenient to visit their
loved ones and can enjoy the beautiful
gardens and landscaping, and other healing environments both inside and out.
Every piece of equipment in the four
operating rooms were brand new when
the hospital opened. All have both minimally invasive and open surgery capabilities, and an expansive array of surgeries
can be performed. “Queen’s – West O‘ahu
is a great place to perform surgeries,” says
surgeon Irminne Van Dyken, MD. “The
operating rooms are very spacious with
new state-of-the-art equipment.”
Physicians will find that the OR staff
has years of experience, as many of them
transferred from Queen’s in Honolulu. “The
operating room staff is without a doubt the
best of the best,” confirms Dr. Van Dyken.
“When I perform surgery in the Queen’s –
West O‘ahu ORs, I know that because of
this exceptional support, my patients are
getting the best care I can possibly give
them.” Anesthesiologist Jun Luo agreed,
saying that QMC – West O‘ahu does have
state-of-the-art technology, but “the big-
Surgery being performed in one of QMC – West O‘ahu’s four surgical suites.
gest difference is the human touch and the
engagement of the staff and professionals
who support the [surgical] department.”
YEAR ONE: QMC-WO
(Continued from page 2.)
risk assessments, breast health information, door prizes, and entertainment. Also
in October, the first monthly Fresh Market
farmers market was held on QMC – West
O‘ahu grounds. The community response
has been so overwhelming that plans are
in the works to expand the number of vendors, and perhaps hold them more often.
In November, the QMC – West O‘ahu
Diabetes Management and Education Center opened
with a mission to
provide expert diabetes education
and help diabetics
manage their selfcare with doable
(Continued on page 6.)
Lou Brock speaks at the opening of the Diabetes Management and Education Center.
QMC-WO float in the Kapolei Christmas Parade.
“As physicians, we recognize the growth
in West O‘ahu,” says Whitney Limm, MD,
Queen’s Senior Vice President of Clinical
Integration. “We’re seeing an increase in
the number of community physicians practicing there, so we built the operating capacity of the ORs with the future in mind.”
Private practice physicians such as orthopedists, urologists, and ophthalmologists
are establishing their practices in the West
O‘ahu area, including having offices in the
upgraded Physicians Office Building next
to the hospital. In addition, Queen’s continues to consult with private practice physicians to determine when to hire Queen’semployed physicians and in what specialties to meet the needs of the community.
“I see a tremendous growth potential for
every core specialty,” says Dr. Limm.
“Modern medicine and technology is
wonderful, but there is no substitute for
highly trained professionals who provide
the human touch and caring we want all
patients to experience,” concludes anesthesiologist Lillian Kanai, MD.
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The Birth
of a
Hospital
IT OFFICIALLY BEGAN in late 2012, when
The Queen’s Health Systems acquired
the former Hawai‘i Medical Center West
campus from St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawai‘i. At the beginning of 2013,
the first employee of The Queen’s Medical Center – West O‘ahu was hired. Susan R. Murray was named the chief operating officer of the hospital.
View from the front doors
looking to lobby. What lobby?
Art Ushijima, QHS/QMC President, and Jerry
Correa, President & CEO of St. Francis hold
a press conference announcing acquisition.
Forest of steel studs
on the second floor.
Waiting area in the lobby starts to take form.
A blessing is held in the old hospital lobby
before demolition begins.
While Susan began to assemble her
team, Queen’s began the process of opening a new hospital, not reopening an old
one. The new emergency room would be
triple the size of the old one, and the latest equipment would be installed; the ICU
would be redone; four state-of-the-art operating rooms would be built; nursing stations were to be replaced. New elevators
would be added. Every piece of diagnostic
equipment would be replaced with brand
new ones. A look at the demolition told
the story. Virtually everything in the hospital building was gutted and rebuilt. Almost
the entire first and second floors each became single huge, open spaces.
Meanwhile, Susan selected her administrative team, while Queen’s physicians
began partnering with community physicians to build a network that would be
adequate to meet the needs of the com-
Finished waiting area in the lobby.
munity. Hospital construction was far from
complete, but by August 2013, Diagnostic
Laboratory Services had opened in the
Physicians Office Building – West O‘ahu.
Although rebuilding was beginning in the
hospital building with new plumbing and
electrical wiring, there were still gaping
trenches in the cement floor. There were
no finished walls yet, but the second floor
became a forest of metal studs.
By September, the skeletons of architectural features began to emerge, and
(Continued on page 5.)
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Birth of a Hospital
(Continued from page 4.)
Queen’s kicked off an employee giving
campaign to help fund the new hospital.
By October, exterior improvements were
underway, and the following month, many
staff and volunteers at Queen’s in Honolulu decided to transfer to QMC – West
O‘ahu. At the close of 2013, a Queen’s
outpatient imaging center and Queen’s
specialty clinic opened in the POB – West
O‘ahu. The clinic would feature physicians
in various specialties. Queen’s Comprehensive Weight Management Program
and Queen’s Sports Medicine would later
begin practicing there to serve the needs
of the West O‘ahu community.
By the beginning of 2014, major areas
of the hospital were taking shape, and
observers could get a preview of what
the new hospital would look like, as wood
paneling, counters and floors were put
in. Then, in February, the announcement
Honolulu volunteers go West.
The ER takes shape.
Finishing touches
in the lobby.
Main lobby features images
of James Campbell, St. Marianne Cope, Queen Emma,
and King Kamehameha IV.
Staff do a practice
drill in the ICU.
Ambulances arrive continuously on first day.
QMC-WO campus was turned into an oasis.
came: QMC – West O‘ahu would open in
May. But first, the staff had to be prepared.
Three “Day in the Life” dress rehearsals
were held over next three months. Each
was an all day event, complete with “patients,” equipment, and mock worst case
scenarios happening on all units.
Then came Day One: May 20, 2014,
8:00 am. Although it wasn’t planned, opening day happened to fall on the birthday of
Prince Albert, the son of Queen’s founders
King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma.
Scarcely a minute had ticked by when the
medcomm crackled to life at 8:01 am: the
first ambulance was on its way.
Linda Rosen, MD, Department of Health Director, Mayor Kirk Caldwell, and Susan Murray after the blessing.
ER staff ready to serve.
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The Queen’s Medical Center –
West O‘ahu services include:
Mahalo,
from our ‘ohana to yours
YEAR ONE: QMC-WO
(Continued from page 3.)
plans. The overall vision of the center is
to reduce the burden of diabetes in West
O‘ahu. Baseball legend and hall of famer
Lou Brock, formerly of the St. Louis Cardinals, spoke about living with diabetes as
Queen’s guest speaker.
Speaking of health education, QMC –
West O‘ahu has picked up on a tradition
from Queen’s in Honolulu. Since opening,
they’ve been holding their own Speaking
of Health lectures on various topics at no
cost to the public. Topics have included
eye health, how to eat healthy and avoid
weight gain, the causes of abdominal pain,
achy joints, and more. The monthly talks
are held in the chapel at QMC – West
O‘ahu by experts in their respective fields.
An eventful 2014 closed with Queen’s
– West O‘ahu staff joining in the Kapolei
City Lights Parade, complete with their
own float. It was a heartwarming event
for physicians and staff, as people actually
stood up, cheered, and clapped when the
Queen’s float passed by. It was Queen’s –
West O‘ahu’s first Christmas, and the staff
were very touched at the welcome they
have been getting from community members from even before the hospital opened.
For over 150 years, Queen’s has continued to fulfill its mission of providing quality
health care services to Native Hawaiians
and all the people of Hawai‘i. Queen’s has
now brought that mission to the people in
a more tangible way with its presence in
West O‘ahu. The Queen’s Medical Center
– West O‘ahu adventure continues.
• Cardiology
• Diabetes Care
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Emergency Services
• Gastroenterology
• Inpatient Laboratory
• Inpatient Rehabilitation
• Inpatient Pharmacy
• Internal Medicine
• Mammography
• Neurology
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedics
• Pathology
• Pharmacy Services
• Pulmonology
• Respiratory Therapy
• Sports Medicine
• Surgical Services
• Urology
• Weight Management
• Women’s Health
Visit us at queenswestoahu.org
or call 691-3000
The Queen’s Print Connection is published by Creative Services. If you have
news or wish to opine, call 691-7532 or
email jkimura@queens.org. The news
deadline is Monday prior to publication.
QHS/QMC Pres. . . . . . . .Art Ushijima
Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Keala Peters
Editor/Writer . . . . . . . . . .Jason Kimura
Assist. Ed./Writer . . . . . Glee Stormont
NHCH Contributor . . .Krista Anderson
2015
The Queen’s Health Systems consists of The
Queen’s Medical Center, The Queen’s Medical
Center – West O’ahu, The Queen’s Health Care
Centers, Queen Emma Land Company, Queen’s
Development Corporation, Queen’s Insurance
Exchange, Inc., Moloka‘i General Hospital and
North Hawai‘i Community Hospital, and has
ownership interests in CareResource Hawai‘i,
Hamamatsu/Queen’s PET Imaging Center, and
Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Inc.
queens.org
The Queen’s Health Systems is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation
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