Overview:
The Office of the President has recommended Airai as the site for Palau’s new Belau National Hospital, but some lawmakers are questioning whether the site-selection study provided enough information to justify the recommendation. The dispute centers on the study’s scope, contract requirements and whether Congress must approve the proposed relocation from Koror.
By: Eoghan Olkeriil Ngirudelsang
Koror, Palau (August 6, 2026) – The Office of the President has recommended Airai as the site for the new Belau National Hospital, a decision that members of Congress are contesting.
The site-selection study was conducted by Hawaii Architects Ltd., a Honolulu-based multidisciplinary design firm, with funding from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. The contract is valued at more than $2.3 million.
According to President Surangel Whipps Jr., the firm began its work in February and studied three potential sites: the Asahi baseball field area in Koror, Airai, and the Koksai area of Ngatpang.
At his presidential press conference on Wednesday, Whipps said he would meet with members of Congress at 1 p.m. that day to hear a presentation on the feasibility study.
A source familiar with the meeting said lawmakers raised concerns that the firm’s presentation provided only limited information to support Airai as the preferred site. The presenters reportedly cited traffic considerations, government ownership of the land—which they said would reduce the risk of future land claims—and long list of other factors in recommending Airai.
Reportedly, a required land size was established under an Executive Order mandating at least 10 acres as the minimum land requirement for the hospital, effectively disqualifying the Koror site because the land offered by Koror State is approximately half that size.
Some lawmakers said the firm was required to study each site at three different sizes and provide factual data, analysis and other information that would allow Palau’s leaders to objectively compare the locations and determine the most suitable site.
Under the terms of the contract, the firm was required to provide individual assessments of all three sites, including evaluations of topography, proximity to power supplies, potential climate-change impacts and distance from major population centers, among a long list of other factors.
The firm was also required to prepare preliminary hospital designs and cost estimates for each designs, compile the relevant information and present its findings to Palau’s leadership for consideration. In total, the firm was expected to submit 14 deliverables.
Some lawmakers said the firm failed to complete all of the required tasks needed to help the Republic make an informed decision about the hospital’s location and construction, rather a single site was recommended.
Sources familiar with the matter said the firm instead concluded that Airai was the best site and provided what they described as reasons to support that recommendation.
Some lawmakers have said they do not support President Whipps’ decision to relocate the national hospital from Koror, Palau’s most populous state, to Airai. It remains unclear, however, whether the relocation project requires congressional approval or whether the president has the authority to make the decision independently.
Lawmakers are expected to meet with the Hospital Relocation Steering Committee to seek information about the implementation of the contract, the firm’s deliverables and other issues related to the proposed hospital site.
