Celebrating 80 Years of Service
For 80 years, Hale Makua Health Services has been more than a place of care. We've been part of Maui's history, growing alongside our community, supporting generations of families, and adapting to meet the changing needs of the people we serve. This past September, we proudly celebrated our 80th anniversary, reflecting on how far we've come, honoring the people who have shaped our journey, and looking ahead to the next chapter of serving Maui.
Our story began during World War II, when local volunteers and members of the Young Buddhist Association recognized a growing need to care for displaced kūpuna on Maui. Through their compassion and determination, Hale Makua was officially established on September 20, 1946, providing a dedicated home for kūpuna in need of care.
What began as a community-driven effort has grown into a nonprofit organization offering a variety of healthcare services to Maui residents and their families. Throughout the decades, we've continued to evolve alongside our community, expanding our services to address new challenges and emerging needs.
1968: We opened our Wailuku facility and pioneered home health services on Maui, bringing care directly into the homes of those who needed it.
1978: We opened our Kahului facility to meet the growing demand for nursing home beds.
1987: We introduced Adult Day Health services to support working families caring for aging parents and grandparents.
2013: We opened Care Homes by Hale Makua, providing a home-like environment for kūpuna who need some daily assistance while maintaining their independence.
2023: We helped launch Kālele Care Services, expanding access to post-discharge care management and connecting patients with the resources and support they need to thrive at home.
While our services have expanded and evolved over the years, the heart of our mission has remained the same: caring for our community and helping people live healthier, more fulfilling lives.
Celebrating the People Behind Our 80 Years
Our 80th anniversary was more than a celebration of our history. It was an opportunity to recognize the people who have made that history possible. From September 14–18, our employees, residents, and families came together for a week filled with laughter, memories, creativity, and celebration at our Kahului and Wailuku facilities. The festivities included a retro dress-up day, Hale Makua history trivia, an incredible 80-foot Spam musubi build and eating contest, a Disney-themed parade through our resident neighborhoods, and a beautiful closing hula performance by Hālau O Ka Hanu Lehua.
We were also honored to welcome back former Hale Makua CEO Tony Krieg, who visited both facilities to share stories and memories from his years of leadership. His reflections offered a meaningful reminder of the many people, milestones, and moments that have shaped Hale Makua into the organization we are today.
While Tony helped us reflect on our past, our current CEO, Wesley Lo, shared his vision for our future and the opportunities ahead to continue making a difference in our community.
Throughout the week, one thing was especially clear: what makes Hale Makua special isn't just the services we provide or the buildings we operate. It's the relationships between our residents, employees, and families, and the genuine compassion that has connected generations of our Maui community.
Building for Maui's Future
As we celebrate this milestone, we're also looking ahead to how we can continue serving Maui for generations to come. Just as our founders responded to the needs of their community 80 years ago, we're working to address some of Maui's most pressing challenges today, including access to healthcare, affordable housing, and workforce development. Two of our most significant upcoming initiatives, our CarePlex and workforce housing projects, were born out of conversations with local residents and shaped by the evolving needs of our island.
Expanding Access to Healthcare Through Our CarePlex
Our proposed CarePlex represents an important step toward improving access to healthcare on Maui. Envisioned as a comprehensive healthcare complex, the project will include a 56-bed higher-acuity rehabilitation center operated by Hale Makua, along with an ambulatory surgery center and physician clinic. By bringing these services together, we hope to expand access to specialty and surgical care, strengthen post-acute rehabilitation services, and reduce the need for Maui residents to travel off-island for medical treatment. For our patients and their families, that means more opportunities to receive the care they need right here at home, close to their loved ones and support systems.
Creating More Housing Opportunities for Maui Families
We also recognize that building a healthier community means addressing the challenges people face beyond healthcare. Our workforce housing initiative has recently expanded from its original concept of 100 rental units to a proposed 288-unit rental community on a vacant parcel adjacent to Kūihelani Highway and Maui Lani Parkway. The development is intended to provide rental housing opportunities for entry-level healthcare and education workers, kūpuna, and families displaced by the 2023 Maui wildfires.
Through this project, we hope to help more local families remain on Maui, while also supporting individuals who are just beginning their careers. We envision opportunities to connect accessible rental housing with our healthcare workforce development programs, helping aspiring healthcare professionals advance their education, build rewarding careers, and work toward earning a livable wage without having to leave the island they call home.
Together, our CarePlex and workforce housing projects reflect our belief that caring for our community means looking beyond the walls of our facilities and investing in the health, stability, and future of Maui.
As we reflect on the past eight decades, we're reminded that Hale Makua has never been defined by one person, one building, or one generation. Our story belongs to the volunteers who came together to build our first home in 1946. It belongs to the employees who have dedicated their careers to caring for others, the residents and families who have entrusted us with their care, and the community partners, donors, and supporters who have helped us grow.
As our CEO, Wesley Lo, reflected during our anniversary:
"In a way, Hale Makua has come full circle. From the volunteers who built its first home to the employees who care for its residents today, and from the community partners and donors who support the organization to the residents and families who have entrusted Hale Makua with their care, Hale Makua's 80-year history has always belonged to Maui."
Eighty years ago, our organization was founded because members of our community saw a need and came together to make a difference. Today, that same spirit continues to guide us as we prepare for the next chapter.
To our employees, residents, families, volunteers, donors, and community partners: mahalo for being part of our journey.
Here's to 80 years of caring for Maui, and to the generations still to come.
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