SR 18 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE HAWAIʻI HEALTH SYSTEMS CORPORATION'S EAST HAWAIʻI REGIONAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM TO CONDUCT A FEASIBILITY STUDY ON ESTABLISHING A RURAL HEALTH CLINIC OR COMPARABLE RURAL HEALTH ACCESS POINT TO SERVE THE VOLCANO COMMUNITY.

This Senate Resolution (SR 18) requests the Hawaiʻi Health Systems Corporation's East Hawaiʻi Regional Health Care System to study establishing a rural health clinic in Volcano, Hawaiʻi. It directly affects Volcano residents - who currently lack nearby primary care, emergency services, and face geographic barriers - and visitors to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The study must examine potential clinic sites, operational models (like part-time care or mobile clinics), costs, staffing, and partnerships with local groups. The resolution does not create new services but asks for a feasibility report to be submitted to the Legislature by late 2026.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 10, 2026 Last action May 12, 2026

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What changed between versions

SR18 → SR18_SD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was updated to reflect a new legislative session (SD1) and revised dates, while clarifying the scope of the requested feasibility study. The text was edited to remove redundant words and correct a grammatical error regarding proposed legislation. The list of officials receiving copies of the resolution was updated to include 'the' before the Superintendent of the National Park.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on requesting a feasibility study for a rural health clinic in Volcano, but the text was refined to remove redundancy and improve clarity.

TECHNICAL

The bill title and sponsor information were updated to reflect the new session designation (SD1) and corrected the legislative session year from 2025 to 2026.

Several 'WHEREAS' clauses were edited to remove unnecessary hyphens and redundant words (e.g., changing 'primary-care' to 'primary care' and 'proposed' to 'proposed' for consistency).

REQUIREMENT

The resolution text was slightly rephrased to remove redundant words like 'Regional' and 'is' in the request for a feasibility study, making the sentence more direct.

A grammatical correction was made in the final resolution to change 'any propose legislation' to 'any proposed legislation'.

The list of recipients for the resolution was updated to add the word 'the' before 'Superintendent of the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park' for grammatical consistency.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Apr 8, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3489) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, McKelvey, Kanuha, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Keohokalole.

upper

Mar 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 03-30-26 1:07PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Committee

Referred to HHS.

upper

Feb 10, 2026

Introduced

Offered.