Community clinics draw support
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Ann Scheufele, 73, a Waipahu retiree, doesn't know where she'd go for treatment of her high blood pressure and other ailments if not for the Kalihi-Palama Health Center.
"Thanks to them, my health is very good," said Scheufele, one of more than 14,000 patients served there annually.
To commemorate National Health Center Week, social-service advocates are highlighting the need for continued support of the facilities designed to serve an increasing number of poor and disadvantaged people.
Gov. Linda Lingle is expected to visit the Waimanalo Health Center today. U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and legislators took a tour of the two-story Kalihi-Palama center yesterday.
While there do not appear to be plans to cut government money going to the health center this year, healthcare advocates say even maintaining the same budget leaves care providers a step behind because of a sharp increase in patients.
The Lingle administration had cut $1.65 million in the past fiscal year, only to restore the money in February after receiving criticism from community health leaders.
Department of Health spokeswoman Janice Okubo said yesterday that it's too early to determine whether budgets for community health centers will need to be trimmed this fiscal year, which began July 1.
Waiting for her prenatal checkup at the Kalihi clinic yesterday was Kimberly William, 22, of 'Aiea. A native of Micronesia, William said the staff not only provides her healthcare but taught her how to get health insurance for her family. Without the center, she said, "it would be hard."
The Kalihi-Palama Health Center was founded in 1975 at nearby Kaumakapili Church. It moved in 1994 to its present North King Street site that accommodates the main clinic with general medical services upstairs, and dentistry and optometry downstairs. A Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program is across the street, along with behavioral health counseling services.
Dr. Robert Koerner, medical director for the center, oversees a staff of about 20 to 30 service providers. Executive director May Akamine manages a staff of about 180 people.
"We could always use more providers, more facilities because of our growth," Koerner said. "We've doubled our patient population over the last few years."
Akamine said that with a $10 million budget, her program actually runs out of money about three months before the end of the fiscal year. "We scrape, and Dr. Koerner tells all the providers to hold off ... try to do what you can do with sample medications," she said.
Rep. Dennis Arakaki, D-30th (Moanalua, Kalihi Valley, Alewa Heights), said the centers fall behind even when they get the same amount from government agencies each year. That's because increasingly more uninsured patients, many of them immigrants, are finding that the clinics are the only place they can turn to, said Arakaki, who heads the House Health Committee.
Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, D-14th (Halawa, Moanalua, Kamehameha Heights), recalled her childhood days in a dentist chair at Palama Settlement and said of the modern clinic: "I wish I had this when I was a kid."
The lawmakers promised their support of the state's 10 health clinics.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
