Hawaii Primary Care Association
Established in 1989, the Hawaii Primary Care Association (HPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering primary health care—basic medical, dental, and behavioral health, and health education services for all Hawaii residents. HPCA represents health organizations and providers focused on primary care for medically underserved populations. Our core membership consists of non-profit multi-service Community Health Centers and Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems founded and governed by the communities they serve. Our members also include physicians, hospitals, schools, HMOs, and other entities with a special interest in primary care for the underserved. HPCA receives funding from membership dues, federal and state grants, private foundations, and donations from the community. The HPCA mission is to initiate and support action that achieves access to quality community-based primary care and that eliminates health disparities throughout Hawaii. We assist organizations and providers who offer accessible health services to underserved individuals regardless of the individual's ability to pay. Directed by our members, the Hawaii Primary Care Association undertakes a variety of special projects designed to increase access to primary health care and to foster systemic change. These projects include:

• Advocacy and Communication—These are two essential services HPCA provides members and Hawai‘i’s underserved populations. HPCA communicates with policy makers and the public about health care needs of the undeserved and advocates for those needs. It acts as a liaison for members with federal, state, local, and private entities that affect health care for the undeserved. Finally, HPCA collects and disseminates data about Hawai‘i’s health care environment for planning, grantwriting, and advocacy purposes.
• Health Information Technology and Telehealth—The goal of this program area is to assist CHCs prepare for and effectively use information technology and telehealth in clinical, administrative, and educational settings, by helping members assess and identify IT options that best fit their needs and by supporting telehealth and other IT infrastructure.
• Training and Technical Assistance—Offerings include an annual conference, periodic workshops on topics of interest, and technical assistance with recruitment and retention, program development, quality system development, board and staff peer networks, and others.
• Outreach and Enrollment—Funded by the state Department of Human Services, this program funds workers at Community Health Centers and Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems to reach out into their communities to help families and individuals learn about and apply to participate in public benefit programs including Med-QUEST, food stamps, public housing, and cash assistance.
• Hawai‘i Covering Kids—Virtually every child in Hawai‘i should have access to public or private health insurance. Hawai‘i Covering Kids, originally funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s national Covering Kids initiative, works to increase the number of children covered by health insurance by improving outreach to uninsured families and simplifying the process through which children are enrolled in the state’s Medicaid programs (QUEST and Medicaid Fee-for-Service).
• Lä‘au Makana, The Medicine Bank—For many low-income families, the cost of medication is a significant barrier to healing and health. This project is a public/private partnership that collects over $1 million-worth of medications each year from over 250 private physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and others. The state Department of Health provides space and staff for the program, and local airlines fly Medicine Bank cargo to Neighbor Island Community Health Centers free of charge.  All donated supplies and cash contributions get distributed among Hawai‘i Community Health Centers to benefit their indigent patients.
• Hawai‘i Immigrant Health Initiative—Federal welfare reform made new immigrants ineligible for basic health coverage under Medicaid. HPCA administers a state-funded program that subsidizes medical care for low-income immigrants who meet the criteria for Medicaid but who arrived in the country after the enactment of federal welfare reform in August 1996.
• Community Health Worker Training—This rural health development program, supported by federal Department of Labor funds, has allowed HPCA to develop and deliver a training curriculum aimed at producing competent community health workers to work at CHCs, Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems, and other community agencies. The program is expanding to assemble training resources to support leadership development for Native Hawaiians and other ethnic groups underrepresented in CHC management.
• Improving Native Hawaiian Health—As a group, Hawai‘i’s indigenous people have disproportionately high death rates and incidence rates of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, asthma, and other conditions. HPCA supports many efforts to improve the health of Native Hawaiians by partnering and collaborating with Papa Ola Lökahi and the Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems island-wide on health research, publications, training, and other initiatives.
• Board Member and Professional Peer Networking—Community Health Centers across the state share many of the same needs and challenges related to expanding and improving quality primary care. HPCA brings Community Health Centers together, at board and staff levels, to solve problems and share expertise, in committees and networks focused on clinical care, quality improvement, sound fiscal management, governance, and other vital and changing issues.
• Kekumuola Fund—Healthy pregnancies are key to healthy communities. HPCA manages the Kekumuola Fund, which supports organizations and individuals who seek to promote the use of doulas, provide childbirth and breastfeeding support, and generally improve the perinatal experience. The Fund is supported by a donor gift from the Hawai‘i Community Foundation.
• Oral Health – HPCA is a committed advocate for improving access to dental care. With no fluoride in the water and limited resources allocated to dental services for the underserved, Hawai‘i has oral health statistics that are among the worst in the nation. HPCA advocates for licensing, funding, and Medicaid policy to increase access to dental care, and administers a program funded by the state Department of Human Services that provides dental care to adults in the TANF program that helps recipients obtain and keep employment.
• Special Projects – New projects are always emerging as needs and opportunities change. Among HPCA’s special projects are telling the CHC story in video and preparing Community Health Centers and the association to deal with emergencies and disasters.
  

Other activities include fostering statewide support for school/health care partnerships and assisting with a statewide telemedicine network. New projects emerge as members respond to ever-changing needs.

Contact
Hawaii Primary Care Association
345 Queen Street, Suite 601
Honolulu, HI 96813-4715
Phone: (808) 536-8442
Fax: (808) 524-0347

Website
http://www.hawaiipca.net/

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Executive Director: Beth Giesting giesting@lava.net
Chief Financial Officer: Patricia N. Balio bali1018@aol.com
Administrative Assistant: Lisa Kahahane hspca@lava.net
Clinical Affairs Director: Charlene Blair cblair@lava.net
Communications and Grants Director: Michael Epp eppmichael@aol.com
La‘au Makana The Medicine Bank Director: Alison Rowland-Cisze medbank@lava.net
Special Projects Director: Kathy Suzuki-Kitagawa ksuzuki@lava.net
Hawaii Covering Kids Project Director: Barbara Luksch coverkids@aol.com

Papa Ola Lokahi
Papa Ola Lokahi (POL) is a non-profit organization founded in 1988, dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Native Hawaiians and other native peoples of the Pacific and continental United States. POL's governance is a consortium of non-profit organizations and public agencies with mandates to improve the health status of Native Hawaiians. It has representation from all the counties in the state of Hawaii. Board members include Alu Like, E Ola Mau, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, State Department of Health, University of Hawaii, and the Native Hawaiian Care Systems, including Hoola Lahui Hawaii, Hui No Ke Ola Pono, Hui Malama Ola Na Oiwi, and Na Puuwai. POL's programs encompass the areas of health data and information, health research, health education, health services, disease prevention/health promotion, and native healing practices. The organization has been, and continues to be, an advocate for health care and active in training, technical assistance, and cultural competency. Its various programs have local, national, and international impact in the area of health and wellness. Papa Ola Lokahi Projects include:

• Data and Information POL serves as a "clearing house" for data and information relating to Native Hawaiian health. The organization serves as a community resource for census information and is a designated Census Information Center (CIC). For more information contact Momi Lovell at manao@papaolalokahi.org.
  
  
• Health Research POL maintains an active health research program. Three of the larger projects include: (1) the work of the Pacific Diabetes Today Resource Center, which includes Hawaii and extends into the Pacific and includes American Samoa, Guam, Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia; (2) Imi Hale, which is a community-based program addressing the high cancer incidence rates in the Native Hawaiian community; and (3) the Native Hawaiian Health Institutional Review Board, whose task it is to review and comment on health research projects focusing on Native Hawaiians. For more information contact JoAnn Tsark at manao@papaolalokahi.org.

• Health Education POL maintains a clearinghouse interest in educational programs and resources for Native Hawaiians and others entering the health professions. The organization also serves as a site for interns and externs desiring to work in the health planning and policy arenas. For more information contact JoAnn Tsark at manao@papaolalokahi.org.
  
  
• Health Services POL does not provide direct health services to clients. Individuals needing or seeking health care are advised to contact his or her nearest community health center and/or their respective island's Native Hawaiian Health Care System. POL does advocate for health care. For more information contact Naunanikinau Kamalii at manao@papaolalokahi.org.
  
  
• Disease Prevention/Health Promotion POL has actively supported community efforts to further their own health and wellness strategies. One such effort is Ke Alaula. In addition, POL does support, as resources allow, conferences and seminars on various aspects of health and health care.
  
  
• Traditional Healing POL supports those practices associated with traditional Hawaiian healing. As resources permit, it facilitates the work of known kupuna who maintain these practices. State law also requires POL to recognize community kupuna councils who, in turn, recognize those practitioners who perform traditional healing practices through community health centers. For more information contact Babette Galang at manao@papaolalokahi.org.

Contact
Papa Ola Lokahi
894 Queen Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: (808) 597-6550
Fax: (808) 597-6552
Email: manao@papaolalokahi.org

Website
http://www.papaolalokahi.org

Executive Director: Hardy Spoehr

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