Collaboration is the key to navigating Hawaiʻi’s health care future, according to industry leaders.
In a roundtable with Pacific Business News and five health care executives, the theme of collaboration rose to the top on how to solve Hawaiʻi’s pressing challenges.
Wesley Lo is CEO of both Ohana Pacific Health and Hale Makua Health Services. His organizations need registered nurses, certified nurse aides and licensed practical nurses. He pointed to a partnership between the Healthcare Association of Hawaii and the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College as an example of what’s working.
The program accelerates entry-level health care workers into LPNs and RNs.
Additionally, the neighbor islands have had an especially hard time with staffing, which is also driving collaboration in the sector. Howard Lee, president and CEO of University Health Alliance Health Insurance, said the practice began years ago.
In 2023, insurers and providers such as Kaiser Permanente and Hawaii Medical Service Association worked together to expand OB-GYN services on Maui.
Lee’s health insurance company serves 60,000 members in Hawaiʻi. He knows firsthand how often members call to report that they’re having a hard time finding a doctor.
Until this problem is solved, his advice to consumers is to be proactive about their care. That means finding a primary care physician before they’re sick and need one in a hurry.
When it comes to that shortage, Jack Lewin, administrator of the Hawaii State Health Planning and Development Agency, said that he is looking grow the workforce with programs such as HELP.
HELP, in this case, means the Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program, which launched in 2023 to help medical students pay for their education.
