Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi to expand with purchase of Maui News property

After ongoing discussions regarding the sale of the 6.28-acre property where The Maui News currently operates, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan has purchased the more than 43,000-square-foot site from Maui Island Holdings LLC, effective May 30. The cost of the sale was not disclosed in the joint announcement.

"The agreement reached this past week reflects a thoughtful and collaborative process between Kaiser Permanente and Maui Island Holdings LLC that developed over time, grounded in our shared commitment to the Maui community," Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi told Aloha State Daily by email. "This also represents an investment in the future of health care on Maui ... [positioning] us to be able to better meet the growing needs of our members and the broader community into the future. We will share more specific details when we’re able to."

The three-building campus located at 100 Mahalani Street is northwest of Maui Memorial Medical Center, which is operated by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals subsidiary Maui Health, and adjacent to the Kaiser Permanente Wailuku Medical Office, according to officials.

Officials noted that “the sale also will allow Kaiser Permanente to better serve the community with expanded health services.”

“For more than 50 years, the physicians, providers and staff at Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi have had the privilege of caring for the people of Maui,” said Ed Chan, Hawaiʻi market president for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals. “This space for expansion supports our growing needs, as well as our commitment to delivering high-quality care to Valley Isle residents and is an investment to ensure we meet our Maui members’ health care needs for generations to come.”

The Maui News plans to close its printing press within the next year, per the purchase agreement, and transition printing of its weekly edition and other publications to a different press.

“We are excited to move into a new space that better suits our needs and is more accessible to our readers and advertisers,” said General Manager Jenni DeFouw. “This is an investment in our future that will allow us to focus all of our energy on delivering the content and advertising the greater Maui community expects and deserves.”

DeFouw hopes to find new office space quickly, she said, noting that more than half of the current building space is not occupied. In addition to a weekly Thursday print edition, The Maui News will continue to publish online daily at mauinews.com.

Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi has served the Islands since 1958. The organization now has more than 270,000 members statewide.

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.