Kouchi Family Honored at Wilcox Memorial Hospital

From left to right, Egan Kouchi, Mitch Kouchi, Ron Kouchi and Scott Kouchi.

The family of state Sen. Ron Kouchi, D-Kaua‘i, Ni‘ihau was honored at Wilcox Memorial Hospital in Lihu‘e for a donation in the family’s name and in support of an improvement project.

Members of the Kouchi family recently gathered at Wilcox Memorial Hospital to induct the Mitch Kouchi Surgery Center Waiting Area, a 341-square-foot lounge and consultation room.

“We are extremely thankful for this generous donation which will help us continue to improve Wilcox’s services and facilities for the benefit of the people of Kaua‘i,” Wilcox CEO Kathy Clark said in a press release. “It is especially fitting that this gift is being made in the name of a kama‘aina family that has done, and continues to do, so much for our Garden Island community.”

Clark added the hospital is honored to work alongside the Kouchi famiy for the betterment of Kaua‘i.

The nonprofit hospital was founded in 1938. Its mission is to “serve the Kaua‘i community with accessible, quality health care that surpasses expectations.”

As a state-of-the-art Level III Trauma Center, Wilcox Memorial Hospital was recently ranked among the top 15 percent in the Nation for Outstanding Patient Experience last year, according to the hospital’s website.

Additionally, in 2012, Wilcox received the American Heart Association “Get With The Guidelines” Gold Achievement Award for Stroke Care.

With nearly 200 physicians on staff, Wilcox offers expert diagnosis and treatment for more than 20 specialties. It is a state-of-the-art acute care facility with a full suite of services including emergency, OB/GYN, pediatrics, cardiology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, pulmonology, nephrology, cosmetic surgery, internal medicine and family practice, the website states.

Since 2010, the Wilcox Health Women’s Center provides preventive and diagnostic care for Kaua‘i’s women.

The hospital has 72 beds, including seven intensive care beds, five birthing suites, 20 same-day surgery beds and a 20-bed emergency department. It is equipped with MRI and CT scanners and a state-of-the-art surgical center with six surgical suites.

Wilcox Memorial Hospital, together with Kaua‘i Medical Clinic and the Wilcox Health Foundation, is affiliated with Hawai‘i Pacific Health, the state’s largest health care provider.

Thanks to George Norton Wilcox and Dora Isenberg — who were among the first to envision a community hospital with a medical staff open to all eligible physicians — Wilcox Memorial Hospital first opened on Nov. 1, 1938, with the official dedication of a T-shaped two-story building. It was built at a cost of $200,000 on 17 acres of land donated by the Lihu‘e Plantation. More than a thousand residents reportedly attended the ceremony and 15 days later, the new 96-bed hospital accepted its first patients.

Today, the Wilcox Health Foundation supports the charitable mission of its nonprofit hospital affiliate, Wilcox Memorial Hospital, by raising funds to provide specialty medical care, life-saving equipment, community outreach and education, and to further local research.

Visit www.wilcoxhealth.org for more information.