Public health school in limbo
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
The rebirth of a school of public health at the University of Hawai'i is in jeopardy, public health officials said yesterday, and they warned that its loss could lead to a "crisis" in the state's public health workforce in coming years and a huge loss of federal money.
The search for an associate dean to rebuild the school has been aborted, and support for new faculty positions has dropped from five to two, according to a UH faculty member and two Hawai'i public health professionals taking part in a public panel at the Global Public Health Conference at the Convention Center yesterday.
"The future of the School of Public Health is a big question mark," said Timothy Juday, assistant professor in the department of public health sciences and epidemiology, now part of UH's John A. Burns School of Medicine.
"We found a candidate who might have been a good fit with our program, and he was interested ... and all of a sudden the university yanked it away," said Juday. "This could lead ... to individuals being recruited not taking the university seriously."
In response, UH-Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert said the program would be rebuilt "step-by-step as our resources allow."
Jim Manke, Englert's spokesman, said money had to be taken from elsewhere just to support the two remaining positions because of state budget cuts.
"There was a commitment of five faculty positions and an associate dean for public health, but there was never any funding for that," said Manke.
He added that the chancellor "doesn't think that an associate dean's position would be the best use of any funds that will be available."
In a May 28 letter to Sonja Evensen and Hali Robinett, president and vice president of the UH School of Public Health Alumni Association, Englert said he did not consider new leadership for public health a high priority.
In the same letter Englert wrote: "In the long term, however, I do believe that separating public health from the medical school is a desirable option. It might be more appropriate to address the issue of leadership if and when that should occur."
Kirk Lange, community health/development director for the Hawai'i/Pacific Area Health Education Center at UH-Manoa, said a critical part of rebuilding is having a leader to create a capacity for grant-writing and to focus direction.
"Rebuilding requires the leadership an associate dean would provide," said Lange. "What we feel we see is a continuation of the neglect and devaluing of public health."
Nancy Partika of the Hawai'i Public Health Association noted that the lack of commitment to the school by UH administrators was "a trail of broken promises."
The former School of Public Health lost accreditation in 1999, a victim of infighting, money troubles, lagging research, dwindling enrollments and lack of support from the former UH administration.
But under Edwin Cadman, dean of the medical school, there had been new commitment to rebuild it, and Cadman had said accreditation of a new school could come within five years. Programs in both epidemiology and gerontology already have been accredited for master's degrees.
But late yesterday, Cadman said the latest actions indicate that the university has "reprioritized."
"The School of Public Health is not a priority for the new administration," he said.
One of yesterday's panelists, state deputy health director Jane K. Kadohiro, told the group that it was critical for Hawai'i to have a strong school, especially in building a public-health workforce over the next five to 10 years as workers retire.
"Our Pacific neighbors, they look to us for leadership and training. We need the School of Public Health back, and we need it strong and vibrant."
Kadohiro said one-third to one-half of the 3,300 non-hospital-based employees with the Health Department need a background in public health. It is these people who must respond to threats such as dengue fever, SARS and HIV, among others.
From the audience yesterday, Michael D. Malison, associate director of global health in the Public Health Practice Program Office of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said the CDC had the same concerns — and about Hawai'i's "missed opportunities" for federal money.
"There's a large amount of funding in bioterrorism available. You are missing out," Malison said.
Yesterday, Robinett was hopeful that a way to offer more support to the fledgling school could be found, and she said the alumni association will meet with Englert to discuss that.
Englert also said he had released $450,000 to Cadman "for use as he deems appropriate."
Cadman said that money is part of promises made to him in 1999 when he was recruited to bring the medical school's faculty strength back up by 30 professors over five years.
The money will be used to help pay salaries of four new faculty positions being recruited, he said.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
