Waipahu High School is set to open a new health center on campus that will also be available to the public by appointment.
The Academic Health Center will staff primary care doctors and obstetricians — and also serve as a learning environment for students.
Under Waipahu High's academy-based model, students join a pathway to be better equipped for future careers. The health center will be primarily used by students in the health and science pathway.
But it has the potential to be utilized for a variety of subjects for students in other pathways. Students can make computer programs for the clinic, learn the hospital business model, or learn how to make nutritious meals.
"A lot of our students, because they have so many interests and dreams, that they just don't know what to do after high school," said nursing pathway student Kayla Nguyen. "But this health care center is gonna provide us with a solution to that. It's about integrating our different academies here into one."
The center will be open to the public by appointment only. It will be open on the weekends with community parking available in front of the building.
"All of our students that work in the academic health center, they all go through training with HIPAA and privacy. It's very, very important to us so that our community feels safe," said Waipahu High School principal Zachary Sheets. "There are some measures we have in place to make it as safe as possible and ease of access for our community."
The Academic Health Center will be built in collaboration with Hawaiʻi Pacific Health and Hawaii 3R's. It's scheduled to open next January.
