The West Maui Hospital and Medical Center campus project in Hawaii is stalled due to federal legislative uncertainty, according to The Maui News.
In the report, project developer Newport Hospital Corp. cited House Republicans’ tax reform plan, which would eliminate tax-exempt bonds that help nonprofit hospitals finance capital projects, as the source of the delay. The Senate has also proposed a tax reform plan, which would not eliminate tax-exempt bonds.
The West Maui project, which began construction in August 2016, will include a 25-bed critical access hospital, a 40-bed skilled nursing facility and a 40-unit assisted living facility, among other features.
Newport Hospital Corp. plans to use municipal bonds to generate a more than $80 million loan to finance the project. Elimination of tax-exempt bonds would create a barrier for project financing, although there are other options, albeit with longer timeframes, according to the report.