OFFICE OF HEALTH CARE ASSURANCE ISSUES $2,190,000 PENALTY AGAINST HAWAIʻI ISLAND CARE CENTERS

HILO, Hawai'i - The Hawai'i Department of Health (DOH) Office of Health Care Assurance (OHCA) has issued an Order to Cease and Desist Clinical Laboratory Operations against Hilo Urgent Care Center, LLC and Hilo Urgent Care Center, LLC, dba Kea'au Urgent Care Center.

Both centers are in violation of state law for operating clinical laboratories on the island of Hawai'i without a state of Hawai'i clinical laboratory permit. Kea'au Urgent Care Center also is in violation of federal law for operating without a federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) certificate.

On March 25, 2025, a DOH inspector confirmed that Hilo Urgent Care Center, LLC was illegally operating a clinical laboratory without a state of Hawai'i clinical laboratory permit since it opened in June 2003. It also was confirmed that Kea'au Urgent Care Center was illegally operating a clinical laboratory without a CLIA certificate and without a state of Hawai'i clinical laboratory permit since it opened in July of 2008.

Hilo Urgent Care Center, LLC has been assessed a $730,000 penalty for the following violations:

1. Failure to obtain a state of Hawai'i clinical laboratory permit prior to opening in June of 2003.

Hilo Urgent Care Center, LLC dba Kea'au Urgent Care Center has been assessed a $1,460,000 penalty for the following violations:

1. Failure to obtain a state of Hawai'i clinical laboratory permit prior to opening in July of 2008, and;
2. Failure to obtain a CLIA certificate prior to opening in July of 2008.

The DOH CLIA section regulates and licenses clinical laboratories in the state of Hawai'i that perform testing for the purposes of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of any disease or impairment of, or the assessment of, the health of human beings.

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