As the Big Island’s physician training program continues to lobby for funding needed to stay afloat, it announced on Friday its second class of physicians.
The fledgling Hawaii Island Family Medicine Residency Program, which launched its first class of four residents in July, was matched with four new doctors last week, according to a press release from Hilo Medical Center, which administers the program.
The National Resident Matching Program matched the Hilo-based residency program with physicians Will Chapple, Tuy-Ngoc “Unity” Nguyen, Karen Rayos, and Gaku Yamaguchi. They join the previous four residents, Hamed Ahmadinia, Kaohimanu Dang Akiona, Svetlana Shchedrina, and Seren Tokumura.
The four new doctors were chosen from a pool of 560 applicants, a more than 300 percent increase over the number of applicants vying for the same positions last year. The program is meant to address Hawaii Island’s doctor shortage, which has been predicted to continue getting worse as doctors currently practicing here reach retirement age.
The residency program began almost a decade ago as a means of attracting young doctors to the island. Studies have shown that as many as 80 percent of doctors choose to remain in the communities where they fulfill their residency requirements.
A bill seeking funding from the state to keep the residency program going advanced out of the state House of Representatives earlier this month and on to the Senate.
On Wednesday it cleared the Senate Commitee on Health, which unanimously recommended the measure be passed without amendments.
House Bill 847 will next go before the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. As of Sunday, no hearing date had yet been scheduled.
The program has an estimated budget of $4.6 million in the coming fiscal year. It generates about $1 million in revenue from treating patients at the Hawaii Island Family Medicine Clinic. The remainder in operating costs must be made up through Hilo Medical Center revenues and support from the state Legislature.
Hawaii Island Healthcare Alliance Chairwoman Sharon Vitousek explained that the program had already reached a number of important milestones as a result of previous state support.
The program has managed so far to develop a “locally respected healthcare clinic,” recruit a “high quality faculty,” obtain accreditation, begin training its first class, and more, she said.
“The achievement of these milestones demonstrates that the expectations of the initial state funding for this program have been well met and the program is well positioned to achieve its goals. However, continued success of the program is contingent on continued sufficient funding for the start-up years, (a universal challenge for new residency programs) until it is sustainable on its own, which is expected,” Vitousek said.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart @hawaiitribune-herald.com.
