Health

Small Island, Big Health Care

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

For an island of its size, Molokai has a remarkable range of choices for health care. From primary care to visiting specialists, Native Hawaiian health to diagnostic testing, medical services on the Friendly Isle have made many strides in the past 50 years. As providers multiply and diversify to serve a limited patient clientele, collaboration and communication becomes increasingly crucial to best fill the medical needs of the public.

Molokai General Hospital
MGH offers the only emergency health care on the island, among many diagnostic services, primary care partnerships and visiting specialists. Mammography, introduced in 1989, CT scanning, begun in 1999, a women’s health center since 1985, and 24-hr X-ray, chemotherapy and ultra sound services make MGH one of the most advanced facilities among small islands. In addition, the hospital attracts nearly 20 specialists in a variety of fields who visit regularly to provide gastroenterology, general surgery, cardiology, Veterans Affairs psychiatry and many others. MGH also works with primary care physicians Drs. Sandra Brazzel and William Thomas at the nearby Rural Health Center.

“We do anything we can to economically keep people from having to go off-island,” said Janice Kalanihuia, president of MGH.

In 2002, MGH, under Queen’s Health Systems, launched a campus redevelopment plan to improve and expand its services. It renovated the existing 22,000 square foot facility and added an 11,000 square foot wing. Original plans included a community health center on hospital grounds, according to MGH Vice President Randy Lite. But the community group spearheading a Molokai community health center chose to keep the organization freestanding.

Molokai Community Health Center
Born in 2004 of community members who sought the designation as a Federally Qualified Health Center, the center is currently located in cramped quarters in the Kamoi Center. In 2009, the Health Center bought the old Pau Hana Inn and Executive Director Desiree Puhi said she hopes to move its core services to the new location by the end of this year. Renovations are currently underway.

The Molokai Community Health Center offers federally mandated core services under the Public Health Service Act. These services include two full-time primary care providers, one dentist and one dental hygienist, two behavioral health specialists, family support services, and “enabling” services – assistance in transportation, referrals, insurance enrollment and off-island appointments.

While their mandate is to service the indigent, uninsured and underinsured on a sliding scale payment system, Chief Financial Officer Cyrus Siu said their services are open to everyone. Minimum service fees apply to all patients – $10 for medical and $30 for dental. Those who can pay full fees don’t slide under the radar, however.
 
“We have to document your income taxes or pay stubs,” said Siu. “We go through a process to verify what patients tell us.”
In addition to the core services, Puhi said expansion plans include a chiropractor, acupuncture, massage and Native Hawaiian health. She describes the goal as “one stop shopping” – a hub of health and community partnerships. A community garden, certified kitchen, healthy juice bar and café and rental space for other partners and Molokai organizations are in the works.

“It’s a lot to dream about,” said Puhi.

Dept. of Health
The Department of Health (DOH), located in the state offices next to the library, offers a variety of services, free of charge to the public. Two public health nurses on Molokai administer TB testing and flu vaccines in schools, help the elderly at home with medical care and disseminate health information, according to Dr. Lorrin Pang, the District Health Officer for the DOH.

The DOH mental health program runs the Molokai drop-in center in Kaunakakai, known as the club house. A program for the developmentally disabled provides a case manager and home care. The DOH also regulates restaurant and food safety, and other public health concerns such chemical and sewage spills, Pang said.

Na Pu`uwai
Na Pu`uwai is a federally funded nonprofit organization administered under the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act. Their primary audience is Native Hawaiian but offers a variety of services and health programs open to the public.

Staff offers cancer screenings, CPR certification, smoking cessation, routine testing in schools and other programs to promote active lifestyles, healthy eating and disease prevention, according to Executive Director Billy Akutagawa. Na Pu`uwai also runs an adult daycare program at Home Pumehana and a fitness center located in the industrial park. Na Pu`uwai has the only full-time dietitian on Molokai on their staff, and clinical psychologists for behavioral health.

The organization also serves Kalaupapa and Lanai, according to Akutagawa.

Other Options
A number of private practice doctors and dentists also offer services on Molokai. Dentists Dana Takashima, Greg Davis and Chris Chow practice independently. Dr. Emmett Aluli and semi-retired Dr. Paul Stevens run the Family Health Center. Dr. Dan McGuire runs the Ohana Health Center. Private practitioners in chiropractic, massage, Native Hawaiian health and many other areas are also available on-island.

Wai Ola O Hina, an organization specializing in therapeutic services, operates out of the Moore Center in Kaunakakai.

Collaboration
Last year, $1 million in state funds were allocated for renovations of the Community Health Center. In a letter to Puhi, Governor Lingle said a documented collaboration plan with all health care providers on Molokai would need to be provided before the funds would be released. The DOH’s Dr. Kimo Alameda visited Molokai to facilitate collaboration discussions.,

“I thought it went well; the two sides are willing to collaborate,” said Alameda, who helps health organizations draft service agreements.  “With an island that small, the competitive model doesn’t work as well as the collaborative model.”

MGH’s Kalanhuia said she is concerned that the health center may take services away from the hospital.

“I would love to never see a Molokai proposal against a Molokai proposal,” she said, adding she hopes for a spirit of cooperation and excitement about sharing assets like specialists.

Alameda said it’s a matter of each organization filling its niche. There are only a few “gray areas,” or services that could be covered by either the hospital or the health center, such as women’s health, according to Alameda.

Puhi said all parties signed an agreement to communicate and not duplicate services.
She hopes the release of funds will also be facilitated with the inauguration of a new governor.

“There’s already about 95 percent agreement,” said Alameda. “It’s that five percent I’m trying to help them figure out.”

Read next week’s third in the series to find out what’s in the future for Molokai’s health care.

Molokai Learns of New Health Care Law

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

AARP News Release

Mary Protheroe, an AARP Hawaii volunteer, visited members of AARP’s Molokai Chapter last week to talk about the new health care law and answer questions.  The health reform package passed by Congress this year offers numerous benefits that Hawaii Medicare beneficiaries and those not yet eligible for Medicare should know about.

For example, the law improves access to medical care by ensuring that doctors receive bonuses for treating Medicare patients.  In addition, the law closes the Medicare Part D coverage gap known as the “doughnut hole,” one of the reasons Hawaii residents face rising prescription drug costs.  The good news is, if you reach the doughnut hole in 2010 you’ll receive a rebate for $250 to help pay for prescriptions.  Beginning in 2011, you’ll receive a 50 percent discount on your brand-name drugs. 

The new law also provides free preventive care for Medicare beneficiaries, so you no longer have to pay out of pocket for preventive care services, such as screenings for cancer and diabetes.  You’ll also be able to work with your doctor to develop your own plan to keep you as healthy as possible. 

For people not yet eligible for Medicare, beginning this year the law allows those with a pre-existing health condition access to insurance coverage if you’ve been uninsured for six months.  If you have insurance, it allows you to cover your adult children until age 26.  Starting in 2014, it also expands eligibility for Medicaid, allowing more lower-income families and individuals to get health coverage.

For more details about the health care law check www.aarp.org/getthefacts.

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan social welfare organization with a membership that helps people age 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole.  There are about 150,000 AARP members in the state of Hawaii.

For information about the benefits of AARP membership or becoming a member of the Molokai Chapter, call Gladys Brown at 553-5375.  The Chapter meets on the first Wednesday of the month at Mitchell Pauole Center at 9:30 a.m.

Healthy Living

Monday, October 25th, 2010

It had all the trappings of a county fair – games, music and crafts for the keiki. Did you enter the raffle? Try the shave ice? Schedule your annual mammogram?

Wait, what?

Far from its sterile patient rooms and subdued waiting area, Molokai General Hospital (MGH) lit up on Saturday for its annual women’s health fair. This year’s fair was expanded to include general health care, with booth after booth offering information on infant care and diabetes to smoking cessation and the risks of high blood pressure.

“We want people to come up here and feel comfortable,” said MGH President Janice Kalanihuia.

MGH's Women’s Health Center celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. Staffed by two Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) and three office administrators, the center offers women preventative and regular health care from family planning to prenatal care and delivery.

The center opened up the opportunity for Molokai women to deliver their babies on island. Molokai’s delivery count to date is 1,484 babies.
 
Joan Thompson, a CNM at the center, delivers babies an average of five times per month. She said the center is an integral part of the community.

“Nurse midwifery is the perfect answer to the needs of women’s health care,” she said. “especially in a rural community where it’s difficult to support an OB/GYN physician.”

A Higher Level of Care
Saturday’s fair was also a chance to showcase the range of services MGH offers.

“Everybody thinks we’re a small little hospital, but when they come and see the capabilities we’ve got, they’re like, ‘Wow, you’ve got that?’” said Dino Fontes, director of nursing at MGH.

At the nursing booth, Fontes showed off an AutoPulse machine – a band that wraps around a patient and applies chest compressions. Nearby, curious keiki tested out a VainViewer machine, which uses near-infrared light to locate veins under the skin for easier IV application.

“If you look at Kona, Maui, Hilo, we have things they don’t,” Fontes said. “We’re a small hospital so we rely on technology.”

In January, MGH will become a level 4 trauma center, eligible to receive funds from the state trauma fund. (Level 1 is the top rating with trauma surgeons and specialists on call; level 4 is a modified trauma center.)

The hospital already has the equipment and staff to qualify as a level 4, it’s just a matter of making it official, Fontes said.

MGH is also looking to open an intensive care unit that would be connected to Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu by camera, allowing patients and their families to stay on island and still be treated by specialists.

Cameras are already in emergency rooms, and CAT scans and digital X-rays can be sent instantly to Queen’s for consult from trauma and neurosurgeons.

“We’re looking ahead and anticipating what we need to do next,” Fontes said.