Tuesday, Mar 1 2011 6:10PM
Some of Hawaii's rural islands do not have adequate health care facilities.
Rural sections of Hawaii are suffering a serious shortfall in physician services, reported the American Academy of Family Physicians, with experts saying the distance between islands is adding to the problem.
Allen Hixon, a family physician and former president of Hawaii's AAFP chapter, told the organization that Hawaii's seven islands have populations that range from 400 to 850,000, meaning that small settlements in some of the state's smaller islands may be neglected and in need of rural community development projects.
"Distances to care may be great [on the mainland] but you can get in a car and drive to get the services you need. That just doesn't exist here," said Hixon. "Geography is really a very defining issue for our health system."
The Hawiaii AAFB has started a partnership with the University of Hawaii at Manoa's medical school to increase family medicine availability in outlying island communities. The chapter, according to the report, has allocated financial and physician resources to the medical school's family medicine interest group in an effort to recruit students.
Hawaii's need for medical care in rural communities has not gone unnoticed. The state's Queens Medical Center recently announced it is using a federal grant to expand cancer care services in rural island communities.