Grant will help Hale Makua Health Services obtain a new emergency generator
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ASB July 13, 2017 | 5 min read N/AKAHULUI - American Savings Bank and Maui Electric Company, through the HEI Charitable Foundation, have awarded a total of $20,000 to Hale Makua Health Services (HMHS) to help procure and install a much-needed higher capacity emergency generator at Hale Makua Kahului.
The new generator will address the safety and healthcare needs of hundreds of individuals who live at the Hale Makua Kahului nursing home and clients who attend the Adult Day Health program.
"We are very grateful for this grant," said HMHS CEO Wesley Lo. "Having a reliable source of back-up power is vital to the safety and health of over 250 seniors and disabled individuals that we care for on a daily basis. The generator provides critical back-up power to life-supporting medical equipment, fire detection, alarm and extinguishing systems, and security monitoring systems which help keep our residents safe."
"American Savings Bank is proud to support Hale Makua and its mission to improve the well-being of Maui's elderly and disabled," said Rich Wacker, president and CEO of American Savings Bank. "It's our hope that this donation will help power the future of Hale Makua, which provides vital services to the local community."
"We take our duty of providing safe and reliable power to our community very seriously, but natural disasters do happen and outages can occur, so being prepared is crucial," said Sharon Suzuki, president of Maui Electric.
"That's why we're honored to support Hale Makua with this donation to ensure they can continue to provide such a critical level of care if an emergency strikes."
An expansion to the Hale Makua Kahului facility in 2005 that added 16 beds for short-stay, in-patient rehab and the addition of an electronic medical records system in 2014 has led to critical electricity needs dramatically increasing at Hale Makua Kahului, pushing the existing 400-kilowatt emergency generator near capacity.
Donated funds will help with the purchase and installation of a 500kW generator.