Hawaiʻi Pacific Health

The joint briefing Tuesday included the state’s other health insurance and health care providers. Many raised concerns about how the partnership would impact competitive markets, access to care, and client balances at health systems.

Two major players in medical care and insurance in Hawaiʻi are joining forces. The state's largest insurance provider, Hawaiʻi Medical Service Association, and major health care system Hawaiʻi Pacific Health announced plans to formalize their partnership.

Gov. Josh Green has announced a $10 million grant to further cancer care on Oʻahu for Queen’s Medical Center - West Oʻahu and Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children.

A Honolulu surgeon took part in a two-week medical mission in war-torn Gaza earlier this year. The Conversation talked to Dr. Ayman Abdul-Ghani about his experience.

Union nurses at Kapiʻolani Medical Center have approved a new contract by a 98% margin, securing the inclusion of new staffing guidelines and wage increases. The vote ended a yearlong negotiation process that included two strikes, a lockout and community arrests. HPR's Mark Ladao has the latest.

Late Tuesday afternoon, both sides reported an agreement on a deal between the hospital and nearly 600 HNA nurses. The union said the nurses were voting on the agreement Wednesday.

Negotiations between union nurses and Kapi‘olani Medical Center have intensified after community members were arrested for blocking the hospital entrance. Kapiʻolani has prohibited union nurses from returning to work since Sept. 14, after the nurses held a one-day strike.

It's back to the table for negotiators for the nurses union and Kapiʻolani Medical Center following a candlelight vigil for a 4-year-old girl who died at the hospital during the lockout. HPR's Catherine Cruz has more.

Hilton Raethel, the president of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, which represents many hospitals and long-term care facilities across the state, explained staffing ratios and labor trends across the industry.

HPR talked to Kapiʻolani Medical Center COO Gidget Ruscetta about the ongoing labor contract negotiations — and the latest strike and lockout. She said the hospital remains fully staffed with a temporary workforce.