​Maui hospital transition to Kaiser blocked by federal appeals court

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order Tuesday temporarily blocking the July 1 transition of three Hawaii state-owned hospitals on Maui and Lanai to Kaiser Permanente until the end of September.

The federal appeals court order came in response to an appeal filed by the United Public Workers, which represents some of the Maui hospital employees. The union last year sued the state to block the transition of the state-owned hospitals to private control, which they claimed would impede…