The Honolulu hospital indicated on the Obama birth record released by the White House barred WND from its premises and threatened to call police in a visit seeking medical records of the president's mother.

Kapi'olani Medical Center also has hidden away the letter President Obama purportedly wrote Jan. 24, 2009, naming the hospital as his birthplace.

Sen. Sam Slom, Hawaii's only Republican state senator, confirmed to WND at a meeting in Honolulu at his legislative office May 4 that Kapi'olani now has put the letter in a safe.

Nothing that would commemorate Honolulu and Kapi'olani as the president's place of birth is currently on display at the Hawaii Department of Health or at Kapi'olani Medical Center.

"At first Kapi'olani told us the letter was put up in the administrative area of the hospital because the hospital was worried somebody might try to steal it," Slom said, "even if the letter was a facsimile."

A photograph taken by the Kapi'olani Medical Center for WND shows a letter allegedly written by President Obama on embossed White House stationery in which he declares the Honolulu hospital to be "the place of my birth," The hospital, after publicizing the letter then refusing to confirm it even existed, is now vouching for its authenticity, but not its content. The White House has yet to verify it authored and sent the letter.

Slom remains perplexed at the hospital's unwillingness to publicize its distinction as the birthplace of a president.

"If I were hospital administrator, I would create a special area to celebrate Obama's birth, open to the public and the press," he said, noting that the Obama letter would be a valuable fundraising tool.

In Honolulu last week, WND made repeated visits to the Hawaii Department of Health, asking to see Alvin Onaka, the state registrar whose stamp appears on the long-form birth certificate released to the public April 27 by the White House.

Each time, Onaka was either out of the office or claimed to be too busy to meet with WND.

Onaka did not return numerous WND phone messages asking for an appointment.

At Kapi'olani Medical Center's administrative offices at the hospital, WND was connected by telephone to spokeswoman Kristi Watanabe, who works out of Kapi'olani's downtown offices.

"We have sent your organization our official statement about the Obama birth certificate," Watanabe said sharply. "We have no further interest in communicating with your organization."

When WND protested that it was a news organization that had a few questions, Watanabe demanded, "Leave the premises immediately," adding, "We have no further interest in your questions."

Watanabe would not allow WND to ask if the hospital had medical patient records for Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham Obama, or if any existing records would be made available for public examination.

WND left Kapi'olani willingly, not wanting to be removed by Honolulu police.

When WND attempted to contact various employees of the Hawaii Department of Health, department spokeswoman Janice Okubo reached WND in Hawaii on cell phone.

Okubo instructed WND to make no further attempts to come to the Hawaii Department of Health premises or to contact employees, insisting that all inquiries to the department were now being referred to Gov. Neil Abercrombie's office for response from the governor's spokeswoman, Donalyn Dela Cruz.

Okubo did not allow WND to ask if a copy of Obama's birth certificate was available for public inspection or if the original document would be made available for professional forensic examination.

Dela Cruz did not return WND phone calls.

The New York Times reported Jan. 11 that Dela Cruz was the source for their report that Hawaii State Attorney General David Louie told Abercrombie that privacy laws prevented him from disclosing an individual's birth documentation without the person's consent.

"There is nothing more that Governor Abercrombie can do within the law to produce the document," Dela Cruz told the newspaper.

The spokeswoman was attempting to explain why Abercrombie had failed to produce Obama's long-form birth certificate to end the the eligibility controversy as he had promised upon taking office in January.

"Unfortunately, there are conspirators who will continue to question the citizenship of our president," she said, apparently unaware of the distinction between "citizenship" and the "natural born citizen" requirement of Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution.

May 10, 2011