Inspire 2023

Straub: Progress on a Promise

“Now is the time to grow the adaptability of Straub into the 21st century because health care is changing.”
Peter Ho, Straub Redevelopment Campaign co-chair and Bank of Hawaii chairman, president and CEO

Work is underway on Straub's new 760,000-square-foot campus.

The landscape along South King Street looks a little different these days. Construction crews are at work as Straub Medical Center makes progress on its promise to build a health care campus of the future. In January, the first building along South Hotel Street came down. The two-story building that housed support services for the medical center was cleared to make way for Straub’s new parking garage, which is the first phase of the project. The start of construction activity marked another exciting chapter for the Straub Redevelopment Campaign. Once the dirt settled from demolition of the second building a few months later, the Straub Foundation was ready for the design renderings to become reality.

“For Straub to continue to be all that it’s been to our community for so many years, it’s going to take capital, it’s going to take capacity, it’s going to take the commitment of not just the people of Hawaii Pacific Health and Straub but the people of Hawaii,” said Peter Ho, co-chair of the Straub Redevelopment Campaign and Bank of Hawaii chairman, president and CEO. “Now is the time to grow the adaptability of Straub into the 21st century because health care is changing.”

From left: Justin Fujioka, Swinerton; Art Gladstone, HPH executive vice president and chief strategy officer; Travis Clegg, Straub Medical Center chief operating officer; Dawn Dunbar, HPH senior vice president of Philanthropy; and Kahu Kordell Kekoa at the blessing to mark the beginning of construction in December 2022.

From left: Justin Fujioka, Swinerton; Art Gladstone, HPH executive vice president and chief strategy officer; Travis Clegg, Straub Medical Center chief operating officer; Dawn Dunbar, HPH senior vice president of Philanthropy; and Kahu Kordell Kekoa at the blessing to mark the beginning of construction in December 2022.

When completed, the new Straub Medical Center will be triple the size of its current campus. The future facility will be designed to give Straub medical teams the space, tools and resources needed to provide care for Hawaii patients for decades to come.

“I was chairman of the board when Hawaii Pacific Health acquired Straub,” said Jack Tsui, former HPH board chair and campaign donor. “I’ve seen the institution grow from a rather humble beginning to where it is now. It’s an extraordinarily viable institution in the health care community in the state of Hawaii.”

Construction will not disrupt the needs of patients. All plans throughout the multi-year project are centered on prioritizing the current care at Straub while building its future.

“One thing about the spirit, culture and community of Hawaii is that we’re an awful long way from anywhere else,” Ho said. “The need to take care of each other, take care of ourselves, and the need to plan for the future is something that is deeply ingrained in being a part of Hawaii. That is what I see at Straub now and that’s what I see in the future of Straub.”