Posted on: Monday, November 15, 2004
Free cancer clinic now open
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAILUA — Cancer patients without adequate insurance or financial resources to pay for medical care can now receive the attention they need through a free clinic on the grounds of Castle Medical Center.
The Charitable Cancer and Medical Clinics of America Inc. facility, operated by an all-volunteer staff including hematology and oncology specialist Dr. Henry Tai, saw its first patient last week and is looking for more referrals.
With cancer as the second leading cause of death in the state and some 5,000 men and women diagnosed with some form of cancer each year, the potential for patients at the charitable clinic could reach into the thousands, said Byrde Cestare, head of the Windward Unit of the American Cancer Society.
Cestare said more people than she can count have told her that they won't go for cancer screening even when it's free of charge because they can't afford treatment. The new clinic, in the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Medical Plaza and Wellness Center, offers some treatment as well as diagnostic services, she said.
"This is an angel that just walked into my office," Cestare said. "Dr. Tai's clinic is the answer for those people who have denied themselves proper healthcare. He is the answer to their prayers."
Tai now practices part time here and in California after 25 years in the hematology/oncology field. He has a long list of accomplishments, including graduating No. 1 from his high school in California, attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating from Harvard University, attending the University of California-Berkeley graduate program and graduating with a medical degree and doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Southern California.
Tai, who speaks seven languages, is also the inventor of a catheter that delivers pain medication directly in a surgical wound, aiding healing and reducing time in the hospital.
At age 61, Tai said he considers his clinic the payment of a debt. The American Cancer Society provided a post doctoral scholarship for him to attend medical school, paying for tuition, books, a salary and supplies.
"So I feel I was given the opportunity to go to medical school essentially for nothing and I want to take this opportunity to treat patients who can't afford medical care," he said in his small two-room clinic.
The clinic is operating through a $2 million grant from the Bea Adair-Lillian Byars cancer fund, which also granted Castle Medical Center the money to help with diagnoses, he said. In December, the clinic will receive a grant from the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation that may be used to pay for mammograms, Tai said.
With an estimated five percent of the people on O'ahu without medical insurance, Tai said the clinic's potential client base could climb into the thousands. But he stressed that patients must be referred to the clinic by a primary care physician.
For the poor and uninsured, that would mean going to a clinic like the Waimanalo Health Center or Kalihi-Palama Health Center that treat people without insurance.
People can also call the cancer clinic for a referral.
Charles Braden, executive director at Waimanalo Health Center, said having the free cancer clinic will translate in more lives saved. A community the size of Waimanalo should have about 360 cancer survivors but when the center tries to round them up for events they only get 50 to 60, Braden said.
"We have a lot who are not getting the care so we don't have as many survivors as we should have," he said.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
