Kuakini Medical Center is a private hospital in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. The center is run by the Kuakini Health System which also runs geriatric care facilities and a foundation.

History

The organization started as the Japanese Benevolent Society in 1892 and was incorporated in 1899. The first Japanese Charity Hospital opened in 1900 and expanded in 1902. A larger facility was built in 1917 at the present site with donations from

Emperor Taishō was the 123rd Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and the second ruler of the Empire of Japan from 30 July 1912 until his death in 1926. The Emperor's personal name was . According to Japanese custom, while reigni ...

of Japan. In 1934

Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

of Japan donated funds for more expansion. After the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

in 1941, the US military occupied the hospital during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and renamed it Kuakini Medical Center, after the street. The street was in turn named for

John Adams Kuakini John Adams Kiiapalaoku Kuakini (1789–1844) was an important adviser to Kamehameha I in the early stages of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was responsible for contributing to the infrastructure among other changes in the Kona District during this era ...

(1791–1844) who was acting

Governor of Oahu The Governor of Oahu ( haw, Kiaaina o Oahu) was the royal governor or viceroy of the island of Oahu in the Kingdom of Hawaii. The Governor of Oahu resided at Honolulu and was usually a Hawaiian chief or prince and could even be a woman. The gover ...

in the 1830s. In 1945 the hospital returned to civil control. The hospital went from caring and supporting the Japanese immigrants to assisting and offering health care services to the whole community. Switching from caring for just Japanese immigrants to the entire community, meant that the hospital needed better facilities to provide adequate patient care. The hospitals

Ewa Ewa or EWA may refer to: Places ; Ethiopia * Ewa (woreda) ; Nauru * Ewa District, Nauru ; United States * Eastern Washington, the portion of the state of Washington east of the Cascade Range * ʻEwa Beach, Hawaii, a census-designated place * E ...

wing and

Waikiki Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

wing had their construction financed by a major fundraising drive in 1951; Increasing the bed count of Kuakini to 140 beds.

References

External links

Kuakini Health System
Hospitals in Hawaii Companies based in Honolulu Hospitals established in 1892 Hospital buildings completed in 1917 1892 establishments in Hawaii {{Honolulu-stub