Health Care

HPR gets reactions from state lawmakers and attorneys about the recent ruling from the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court allowing the global wildfire settlement to move forward; Hawaiʻi County Mayor Kimo Alameda lays out his priorities for this legislative session

Health officials say there’s a growing number of Hawaiʻi students who are not up-to-date on their vaccines: During the 2023-2024 school year, 21% of students had exemptions for vaccinations, were missing shots or didn’t have their records.

The state Legislature is considering a measure that would stockpile 1,000 doses of the abortion drug mifepristone. The bill is meant to protect Hawaiʻi's inventory of the drug in case federal laws or court rulings limit access.

A Hawaiʻi resident who has struggled with vision loss wants to pass on her life lessons to others. Vickie Kennedy was diagnosed with a genetic eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa, commonly known as "tunnel vision” in 1978. The Conversation talked with her about helping others adjust to losing sight.

Dr. Neda Nikpoor is an ophthalmologist with Jenkins Eye Care. She sits on an advisory board with Project Vision which regularly does screenings in our schools. The Conversation talked with her about what she is seeing out in the community.

The measure will now need to pass the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee before it goes to the full Senate for approval.

A new project seeks to understand the microbiome of the vagina — and it’s asking for volunteers. The Conversation talked to Dr. Corrie Miller, an assistant professor of reproductive medicine at the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine, about the Aiona project.

Negotiations with management ended Monday night with no agreement on a new contract.

Nurses at The Queen's Medical Center have called off their planned strike as they reached a tentative agreement with hospital management on a three-year collective bargaining agreement. The Hawaiʻi Nurses' Association and hospital management came to a compromise around 1 a.m. Monday after days of 12-hour negotiations and assistance from a federal mediator.

Bargaining teams from Maui Health/Kaiser Permanente and United Nurses and Health Care Employees of Hawaii representing more than 900 workers on Maui and Lānaʻi have come to an agreement on a historic new contract that was ratified this week by union members.