Hamakua-Kohala Health Center patients no longer have to worry about getting to and from their medical appointments.
A Waiwai Ola grant from AlohaCare, a nonprofit health plan, helped the center solve a serious issue for its patients: access to medical care because of a lack of transportation. Hamakua-Kohala Health used the grant to purchase a new seven-passenger van and partially fund a new mobile care coordinator position.
Since launching earlier this year, the new transportation initiative has served more than 200 patients and logged more than 8,000 miles.
A van dedicated to serving residents in North Hawaii is a cost-effective and reliable solution for Hamakua-Kohala Health patients. If this service was not available, patients would have to arrange trips via taxis that come from outside the immediate area and can be costly.
“We are grateful to AlohaCare for empowering us as a community health center,” said Irene Carpenter, Hamakua-Kohala Health Center CEO. “This grant allowed us to solve one of our most pressing problems.”
She added that the van made an immediate and positive impact, and acknowledged AlohaCare’s generosity as the transportation option is available to all Hamakua-Kohala Health patients, not just AlohaCare members.
Since launching the innovative community reinvestment grant program in 2018, AlohaCare has awarded nearly $5 million to 19 recipients statewide. Hamakua-Kohala Health was one of the first grant recipients to report implementation metrics, and AlohaCare is pleased with the center’s results.
“We created Waiwai Ola because community providers know best what their patients need,” said AlohaCare CEO Laura Esslinger. “We know transportation is a barrier to accessing care, especially in North Hawaii, and we saw the immediate potential the van had for being an affordable and practical way to help patients in these communities.”
The van is available 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and runs based on patient needs. Patients who qualify and reside within the 17 ZIP codes served by Hamakua-Kohala Health are eligible to use the free service, which takes patients to and from home and their appointments at one of two clinics located in Honokaa and Kapaau.
The van can be used for a range of primary and specialized doctor visits, behavioral health counseling, diagnostic testing and picking up prescriptions.
Hamakua-Kohala Health chose to request funding for a van because it knew transportation is a barrier to accessing care for its approximately 5,000 patients in North Hawaii, many in rural areas. When staff delved into why patient surveys consistently ranked transportation as one of the top five concerns, they learned many patients did not have their own reliable source of transportation and the public bus system did not adequately serve the clinics, either because of bus stop locations or schedule.
Carpenter said the center chose to target that “gap” group.
“We wanted to improve access to care for an underserved group of patients who do not have ADA accessibility issues and don’t qualify for paratransit ride services here on the Big Island,” she said.