New partnership with the City and Community Health Centers to care for COVID-19 patients and households
The City and County of Honolulu continues to create a COVID-safe island with new partnerships with the Hawai‘i Primary Care Association and the island’s seven community health centers. The health centers will provide contact tracing, case management for patients exposed to COVID-19, health care navigators for their patients who need to quarantine or isolate, and support for the patient’s household.
“Making O‘ahu COVID-safe depends on giving everyone who may have been exposed to the coronavirus access to the care and support they need,” said Mayor Kirk Caldwell. “I urge anyone who feels they need a COVID-19 test or help with quarantine and isolation to visit oneoahu.org/covid19-testing. The health care professionals at our island’s community health centers do more than provide quality medical care. They care for the well-being of patients and entire communities and that’s what O‘ahu needs to recover from COVID-19.”
Robert Hirokawa, CEO of the Hawai‘i Primary Care Association, said, “Community health centers across O‘ahu recognized from the beginning that the populations they serve would be among the hardest hit by the pandemic. We’re grateful that the Mayor and his team also recognize this and that they’ve committed to partnering with us, and finding necessary resources to heal our communities.”
Services for households could range from daily wellness checks to culturally appropriate education about COVID-19, to food and medication delivery, to support using telehealth, to assistance with care after hours or in an emergency.
Community health centers on O‘ahu are:
· Kalihi-Pālama Health Center
· Kōkua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services
· Ko‘olauloa Health Center
· Wahiawā Health
· Wai‘anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center
· Waikīkī Health
· Waimānalo Health Center
In addition to these partnerships, the City has built a $16 million COVID-19 testing facility at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, created a $4 million testing lab at the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, contracted 120 contact tracers for the Department of Health’s contact tracing team, and secured 452 hotel rooms for quarantine and isolation.
Agreements with the primary care association and community health centers are valued at up to $10 million, depending on the number of patients and households cared for and the health of the patients, and are funded with the CARES Act.
