Hawai‘i Community Helps Raise $50,000 Toward Rebuilding Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children During the Ko Olina Children’s Film & Music Festival
By Staff Reports
(Oahu)– Local families turned out by the thousands to make the first-ever Ko Olina Children’s Film & Music Festival a magical and meaningful event for the children and families of Hawai‘i. Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children (Kapi‘olani) is pleased to announce today a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) room in its new building will be named to honor the Ko Olina Resort Association (KORA) and the families who attended the 2014 Ko Olina Children’s Film & Musical Festival. A “floating” stage and a fiery sunset provided a dramatic backdrop as Jeffrey R. Stone, KORA president, presented a $50,000 check to Kapi‘olani toward the Campaign for Hawai‘i’s Children, the official name of Kapi‘olani’s $30M capital campaign to rebuild the hospital. The $50,000 gift represents the proceeds from the festival and a dollar-for-dollar match from the Ko Olina Resort Association.
More than 3,000 people attended the January 18th Ko Olina Children’s Film & Music Festival, a benefit for Kapi‘olani. With film screenings like Disney’s Finding Nemo, The Little Mermaid and Oceans, performances by Honolulu Theatre for Youth and the Performing Arts Center of Kapolei, activities with Disney characters and musical guests such as Sistah Robi Kahakalau and violinist Aowl Owen, the event brought creativity and imagination to the forefront for all to enjoy. The activities and film screenings were held throughout Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, JW Marriott Ihilani and Ko Olina’s Kohola lagoon.
“This festival was envisioned to be a celebration of the creativity and joy of film and music,” said Stone. “The support we received, from both kama‘aina and visiting families, was overwhelming. We are so delighted to contribute to the future of Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children and its dynamic efforts to provide high quality health care to our island keiki and their ‘ohana.”
“We are extremely thankful for this generous donation and also grateful for the opportunity to touch members of our community by giving them the joy of musical entertainment, film and education in one beautiful location—Ko Olina—to support our mission of caring for Hawai‘i’s women and children,” said Martha Smith, CEO of Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children. “Our patients and families depend on the experts of our hospital to be there for them for generations and we can make that happen with people like visionary Jeff Stone and the Stone Family and the leadership of the Ko Olina Resort Association, plus all the wonderful people from our own community who attended the event.”
Co-chaired by Dee Jay Mailer and Bert Kobayashi, the Campaign has raised more than $29 million toward a $30 million goal to fund this first phase of a multi-year master plan to rebuild Kapi‘olani Medical Center.
On-stage during the check presentation were Jeff Stone, Ko Olina Resort Association president and CEO of The Resort Group; Ray Vara, CEO of Hawaii Pacific Health; Martha Smith, CEO of Kapi‘olani Medical Center; Linda Jameson, a philanthropy director at Kapi‘olani Medical Center; Gregory Grigaitis, Ko Olina Resort Association vice president and project director, Hawai‘i Timeshare Operations for Marriott Vacation Club International; and Todd Apo, director of public affairs, Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa. Families watched the check presentation from the beach followed by a screening of Disney’s The Lion King movie on the “floating” 16- by 40-foot screen.
The new neonatal and pediatric intensive care unit building now under construction is scheduled to be complete by the spring of 2016. There are 70 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patient rooms and each one is named after a family, corporation, organization or in memory of a person. One of the NICU rooms will officially be named after Ko Olina Resort Association and the families of the Ko Olina Children’s Film & Music Festival.
About Ko Olina
Ko Olina is a 642-acre master-planned resort community on the western shoreline of Oahu. Resort partners include the iconic J.W. Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa; Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club, Marriott’s most successful vacation club product in the world; Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, Disney’s first family destination resort in Hawaii; the Ko Olina Beach Villas luxury condominium residences; Ko Olina Golf Club and the state-of-the-art Ko Olina Marina. The resort, known as Oahu’s most engaging visitor destination, also features four pristine oceanfront lagoons connected by 1.5 miles of shoreline pathways, access to a diverse selection of ocean and outdoor activities and the island’s best weather. For more information, visit www.koolina.com.
About Kapi‘olani’s Campaign for Hawai‘i’s Children
Rapidly emerging technologies have fundamentally changed the care delivery process and a rebuild of Kapi‘olani is vital in order to provide the level of comfort and care that Hawai‘i’s families deserve. The Phase 1 renovation and rebuild will allow for family-centered care, with private rooms in the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units to let families to participate in their child’s care around the clock—a concept at the center of hospital rebuilds nationwide. It will also meet the critical care needs of Hawai‘i’s keiki, as the Pacific region’s sole tertiary referral center and Level III-B Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and provide teaching space to train Hawai‘i’s health care professionals in ObGyn and Pediatric care.
About Kapi‘olani Health Foundation
Kapi‘olani Health Foundation supports the charitable mission of its not-for-profit hospital affiliate, Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children by raising funds to provide people of Hawai‘i and the Pacific Region with specialty medical care, purchase life-saving equipment, support community outreach and education, and further local research. Learn more at www.KapiolaniGift.org.
About Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children:
Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children is well recognized as Hawai‘i’s leader in the care of women, infants and children. With 207 beds, the not-for-profit hospital is Hawai‘i’s only maternity, newborn and pediatric specialty hospital. It is also a tertiary care, medical teaching and research facility. Specialty services for patients throughout Hawai‘i and the Pacific Region include intensive care for infants and children, 24-hour emergency pediatric care, air transport, maternal fetal medicine, and high-risk perinatal care. More than 1,407 employees and 630 physicians provide specialty care at Kapi‘olani Medical Center. The hospital is home to Kapi‘olani Women’s Center, Kapi‘olani Breast Center and Kapi‘olani Women’s Cancer Center – the state’s only dedicated breast health and gynecological cancer centers. Kapi‘olani offers numerous community programs and services, such as the Kapi‘olani Child Protection Center and Sex Abuse Treatment Center. Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children is an affiliate of Hawai‘i Pacific Health, the state’s largest health care provider. Learn more at: www.kapiolani.org.