Jan Shields

Jan Shields is a Republican candidate for District Nine in Maui County who is running on a platform of building a hospital in Lahaina and privatizing all the hospitals on Maui. I have watched her in “action” at a variety of meet the candidate forums and I have discovered Jan Shields is very narrow in her scope and vision for the future of Maui. In fact, I believe she is quite dangerous for the County of Maui.



Privatization is a theory based on the idea of competition and, in theory, this competition would lower prices and provide a better quality service. It has also been the clarion call for the Republican party for quite some time now. In fact, the call for privatization is often a political ideal, rather than an economic one. A cursory Google search brings up strong political beliefs from the far-right and far-left. The far-right believes that Government’s relationship with the citizens should be hands-off and business should be market-driven. The far-left, in contrast, believe that privatization of Government is another example of a class-driven system, one that is against unions and the workers. The idea is that the government is the people, therefore the people would own the hospitals. The very same hospitals that Jan Shields would like to build and privatize.

If we are to privatize Maui Memorial General Hospital, profits will become the first priority of the hospital. In the Haleakala Times, Shields says, “Private companies will run a much more efficient business. It is easy for government hospitals to run inefficiently, and then go with their hands out to the legislature for more of our tax dollars. Private hospitals cannot do this, so they plan ahead and run a tight ship,” she said. But what is this so-called “tight ship?” If, under Shields’ plan, a certain portion of the hospital is unprofitable, do they discard this portion? Do we do away with the Emergency Room because too many people who cannot afford care continue to default on their hospital bills?



Maui County does not need private hospitals. We can build public hospitals –but we do not need to bankrupt Hawaii by building private hospitals only for people who can afford them. The Republican model of privatization has failed. There is no need for Maui to build private hospitals and there is no need for Jan Shields in our government.

Fast Food Nursing
Save Our Healthcare
Jan Shields
Roz Baker
Common Dreams
Haleakala Times