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Annual Report

ALOHA FROM THE CHAIR

Dear colleagues and friends,

It has been a remarkable year for the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. Our faculty and staff have exhibited diligence and creative energy during this time of change and departmental growth. We are very pleased to be at the forefront of JABSOM's expansion of training sites to the neighbor islands. Inside this report you will find details on:

  • Our valued partnerships with HPH and others leading to our new Family Medicine Residency on Kauaʻi with the expansion of residency training from 21 to 33 accredited slots.
  • Pali Momi Outpatient Clinic expansion and renovation undertaken by HPH to facilitate the increated numbers of resident trainees.
  • We celebrate Rica Dela Cruz, PhD, who joined the Pacific Research Division expanding and sustaining programs across the Western Pacific.
  • An innovative $1.7 million dollar HRSA statewide Street Medicine grant, assuring that we maintain our focus on those who need it the most.

There is much to celebrate, however this is also a moment where primary care access is strained and sustainable workforce solutions feel difficult to achieve. The value of having access to a primary care physician is known to improve health outcomes and decrease health care cost, yet the percentage of total health care dollars spent on primary care in Hawaiʻi remained very low at 3.6%. To achieve the health outcomes we all desire, much work remains to be done.

We will continue our mission to train highly competent family physicians to work in communities in every corner of our state.

Thanks to each of you for your continued support.

Aloha,

Allen L. Hixon, MD, FAAFP
Professor and Chair

Please find our previous report below: