Health Care

Vaccination rates here in Hawaiʻi are concerning public health experts. The Conversation talked to Hye-ryeon Lee, who is the chair of the School of Communication and Information at UH Mānoa and studies health communication about vaccine hesitancy.

Kūpuna with lower incomes may not realize that they can qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare because it can be difficult to navigate through the application process. That’s why the state Department of Health’s Executive Office on Aging wants to set up the Medi-Medi Project to help them cut their health costs.

A bill introduced this legislative session would have required local medical school graduates to work as physicians in the state for two years after graduation. While supporters said it would have helped tackle Hawaiʻi’s physician shortage, the bill has died this session.

Maui Mayor Rick Bissen gives a snapshot of Maui County; UHERO Professor of Health Economics Ruben Juarez lays out the link between food insecurity and symptoms of depression

Hawaiʻi lawmakers are moving along the controversial measure to ban non-medical exemptions for school-mandated vaccines. The House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs narrowly voted Friday in favor of House Bill 1118.

In an attempt to address the state’s medical staffing shortages, lawmakers are considering a measure that would allow graduates from certain foreign medical schools to seek licensure in Hawaiʻi.

The Kilolani Project at the Queen Emma Clinics has helped more than 300 patients manage their diabetes since 2021 — all are Native Hawaiian, and many of them homeless or otherwise, vulnerable. Dr. Nani Morgan helps run the program with the help of Patient Navigator Ulualoha Ana.

State lawmakers may make a homeless relocation program permanent; A clinic sees success by pairing patients in diabetes treatment with "patient navigators"

The state Legislature is running against a time limit on its controversial law to regulate midwifery that will sunset in June. HPR's Ashley Mizuo reports.

The competition was stiff — 475 people applied for 30 slots to train as physician assistants in a new master's program at Hawaiʻi Pacific University. It rolled out last month and aims to address our community's health care needs.