Where were the facilities for treating and researching Hansen s disease in Hawai`i?
The Kalihi Hospital and Detention Station on O`ahu opened in 1865 for the admission of Hansen s disease patients. Operating until 1875, it served as a hospital for people with milder cases of the disease, and as temporary detention for people with advanced cases. The latter were usually sent eventually to Kalawao and Kalaupapa on Moloka`i. The Branch Hospital at Kaka`ako on O`ahu opened in 1881 as a receiving station for people suspected of having the disease. This hospital closed in July 1888. In 1885 the Kapi`olani Home for Girls opened in Honolulu as a home for disease-free children whose parents were in Kalawao. The Kalihi Hospital reopened in 1889. From 1909-1913 the US Leprosy Investigation Station, the first hospital authorized by Congress for research on a specific disease, operated at Kalawao. In 1949 Hale Mohalu, in Pearl City, replaced Kalihi Hospital and emphasized rehabilitation. Hale Mohalu closed in 1978, and today people receive medical treatment at the Hale Mohalu wing
