Column by Dr. Hans Diehl and Brenda Kaneshiro
Consciously or unconsciously, most people make sacrifices of some sort. Unfortunately, they often sacrifice certain important areas of their lives in order to gain the transitory pleasures of wealth, power, status, or fame.
MCHC News Release
Molokai Community Health Center (MCHC) is pleased to announce the approval from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) of an award of $150,000 dollars for Fiscal Year 2011-12, and $150,000 for Fiscal Year 2012-13. The funding will support the renovation and conversion of the former Pau Hana Inn to a modern outpatient medical facility.
Life is stressful. Maybe you want to quit smoking or the economy is getting you down. Maybe you’re having a tough time talking to your spouse, or your keiki moved out and left you with an empty nest.
Stephanie Napoli understands, and she wants to help.
Napoli took over as Molokai Community Health Center’s (MCHC) Director of Behavioral Health Services (BHS) July 1, replacing Darryl Salvador. With master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology from Argosy University in Atlanta, she has lived all over the country practicing at community health centers, including in Honolulu in 2006 as a foster care program supervisor and most recently at Ventura County Behavioral Health in California.
Duplication of health services is not an issue for Molokai, said Loretta Fuddy, state Director of Health, last week. That announcement comes after health providers on Molokai have been concerned about duplication for the past two years, and have participated in several meetings mandated by the state to hash out a comprehensive health care plan for the island.
Health care providers and concerned residents gathered one more time at the Mitchell Pauole Center last Wednesday, to try and agree on a plan where health care professionals would form partnerships for services, as well as collaborate on funding.
Maui Adult Day Care Centers News Release
Maui Adult Day Care Centers and Maui County Office on Aging are inviting members of the public to a free caregiver workshop, “Fall Management Training for Caregivers.” The workship, held on June 29 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Kulana `Oiwi Halau, is open to both professional caregivers as well as those caring for family members,
Ted Anderson, Doctor of Physical Therapy and member of the Hawaii Chapter of American Physical Therapy Association, and his assistant Jonathan Bucki will offer presentations. They will cover fall statistics and solutions, why falls increase with age, recognizing the warning signs, protection during a fall (demonstrations), fall recovery and Tai Chi for balance.
UPDATE: Althea Childs was hired back on Tuesday, June 21, and Joe Childs also received an extension and will be re-hired when his contract expires on June 27, according to DOH officials. Business will continue as usual with no interruption in service.
Department of Human Services News Release
The State Pharmacy Assistance Program (SPAP), which subsidizes the co-payment for Medicare prescriptions for low-income seniors, will be discontinued due to a lack of funding, announced the program’s administrator, the Department of Human Services (DHS). This change, effective July 1, 2011, will affect 43,500 eligible Hawaii residents enrolled in the program.
Community Contributed
Quality hospice care can make the difference between unbearable pain symptoms, overwhelming stress and living peacefully and as pain free as possible to the very end of life. Hospice Hawaii Molokai is a way of caring; not a place. We are home-centered and have a team approach in our focus on the patient and their family. We promote living with dignity and caring for one another.
Local, nonprofit health plan AlohaCare recently awarded Molokai Community Health Center (MCHC) $72,000 to enhance and increase patient screening and care through the MCHC’s Early Intervention Program. MCHC was one of 14 community health centers and clinics statewide that received AlohaCare funding, totaling $1.62 million in incentive awards.
Two opinions on a plan for health care on Molokai emerged last week: residents want a patient-centric, easy-to-navigate system with choices, while providers are concerned about finding funding to keep their services available.
“I would like it if our current health care providers would stop squabbling,” said Jeannine Rossa, a Molokai resident, via the Dispatch’s Facebook page. “We need them all. We like them all. We want them all.”
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