Column: Wahiawa Health expands services to provide affordable care

As a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike, Wahiawa Health understands the troubling trends for access to health care as outlined in a recent health care survey report, and we are working hard to be a part of the solution (“Health care access in isles bleak, report says,” Star-Advertiser, July 27).

We know firsthand the challenges our communities face with accessing quality health care and getting an appointment quickly. As one of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye’s legacy projects, Wahiawa Health was established to meet the needs of the underserved and vulnerable communities of Wahiawa, Waialua, Kunia, Schofield and Mililani by providing affordable, high-quality health care in one, convenient place.

Wahiawa Health serves a very diverse population, many of whom have gone without access to affordable health care for far too long. Identified as both a medically underserved population (too few primary care providers, high infant mortality, high poverty or a high elderly population) and a health professional shortage area (shortages of primary medical care, dental or mental health providers), Wahiawa poses a unique set of challenges — but each day we move closer to realizing Sen. Inouye’s vision.

As reported in the health care survey, 52% reported they cut back on medical care due to financial challenges. At Wahiawa Health, we believe that access to quality medical care, behavioral health and social services should be available to everyone regardless of one’s financial situation. To ensure our services are available to all who need them, we offer a sliding-fee scale based on individual or family income levels. We also accept certain state and private insurance and can assist with insurance enrollment for those who are uninsured.

According to the survey, 38% reported worsening mental health over the past two years. As the need for behavioral health services has risen as a result of COVID-19, our behavioral health team has expanded and is available six days a week for in-person and telehealth visits.

We have more than 70 staff members (on-site and remote), are open six days a week and are continually growing our services to meet the needs of the community. We expanded our women’s health care services, including full OB-GYN, through our partnership with Hawaii Pacific Health’s network of medical centers including Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children.

To address the growing need for diabetes support in our community, we opened a diabetes and hypertension integration program to provide education to our diabetes patients to help improve their quality of life, self-manage their illness and reduce medical costs. As many of our diabetes patients have more than one disease, we increased our internal medicine team of specialists to provide quality care for patients with complex conditions. To further assist patients with their medication regime we also deliver medication to all parts of the islands.

Other services include family medicine, men’s health, pediatrics, nutrition services, podiatry and an in-house pharmacy exclusively for our patients to provide integrated medication management, prescription accuracy and convenience. We utilize a mobile van named “Ola” to conduct outreach services and expand care to high-risk and homebound patients in need.

We continue to offer COVID-19 testing and vaccinations and have a separate phone line for the community to make an appointment for a test, vaccine or booster shot.

Wahiawa Health is committed to ensuring patients and neighboring communities are informed and are able to access and receive quality health care in a safe environment.

We live by our mission statement — “In the spirit of Aloha and compassion, Wahiawa Health provides access to affordable, quality health care and wellness services to promote a healthy community” — and welcome partnering with other groups to seek action and find solutions to access affordable health care.

Bev Harbin is CEO of Wahiawa Health.