Hawaii Lawmakers Fast-Track Money for Kidney Transplant Center

Shortly after Gov. Neil Abercrombie called for “emergency funding” for a kidney transplant facility, lawmakers advanced a bill Monday for the $1.8 million in state funds.

The Associated Press reports that House Bill 608, a carry-over from last session, was revived and passed out of conference committee Monday afternoon.

The full House and Senate will vote on the bill, which would give $1.5 million to the Queen’s Medical Center and $300,000 to the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii.

The emergency funds were prompted by the December closure of Hawaii Medical Center’s Oahu hospitals, which operated the state’s only Medicare and Medicaid-certified organ transplant center.