GOVERNOR LINGLE RELEASES $500,000 FOR THE POHAI NANI GOOD SAMARITAN WELLNESS CENTER ON O`AHU

For Immediate Release:  January 5, 2006  

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle has released $500,000 to help aid in the construction of a Wellness Center at Pohai Nani Good Samaritan (PNGS) for seniors on O`ahu. 

Pohai Nani Good Samaritan (PNGS) was opened in 1964, and is operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, the largest non-profit operator of senior communities in the United States.  PNGS occupies 16 acres in Kane`ohe, providing 184 senior living apartments and 15 cottages, a ten-resident Care Home and a 42-bed skilled nursing community. 

PNGS’s Wellness Center will offer seniors a myriad of specialized classes and activities that emphasize a comprehensive approach to fitness.  It will house a heated accessible pool, locker rooms, a fitness center, individual therapy rooms, an exercise room, healing gardens, office space, and parking. 

“With Hawai`i’s rapidly growing elderly population, we need to support centers like Pohai Nani to make sure our senior citizens are taken care of and enjoy a healthy retirement,” said Governor Lingle. 

The total project cost is $4,863,330, with $1,500,000 being provided by Federal Community Development Block Grant Funds and $2,863,330 in private funds.  It is expected to be completed by August 2006.

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For more information, contact:
Lenny Klompus 
Senior Advisor – Communications 
Phone: 586-7708 

Russell Pang
Chief of Media Relations
Phone: 586-0043