No deficit in level of care at Kohala Hospital
Recently, I’ve read a report that stated that the Kohala Hospital as a care home and hospital, not meeting some expectations as a care facility. Though there are challenges that the hospital faces (mostly because of the age of the building) there are no deficits in the level of care this facility offers it’s patients.
As a patient, myself, my experience is demonstrably different from what I read. I am one of a few patients with a Spinal injury, this injury occurred on Oahu. I had the opportunity to choose a care facility there, but remembering my time in Kohala’s Hospital months prior, I asked my case manager to make all effort to get me to Kohala. Thankfully, we were successful.
Further, I have experienced and witnessed the extremely high standard of care and compassion the staff have for each patient under their care. They’re attentive demeanor would leave some of the larger hospitals red-faced. The staff are hard-working members of this community and are tireless in bringing comfort and wellness to their wards. I acknowledge the administration for possessing the level of training for staff that brings such a healing environment for us, the patients of the Kohala Hospital.
Alfred Leslie, Resident Council of Kohala Hospital president
Kapaau
Cultural center wouldn’t work on Maunakea
I read the piece by Richard Ha and disagree that this cultural center would attract visitors. We already have what he describes on Honolulu. It’s Called the Hawaiian Cultural Center on the windward side.
The location at 10,000 feet elevation would be difficult for most senior folks, it’s hard to breath at that elevation. It is a waste of taxpayers money.
Mayor Harry Kim proposed a similar project but called it a “peace center.” We have much greater needs on this island then this ill-planned project. Let’s start with cleaning the bathrooms at parks for starters. This is of course just my opinion.
Tom Pyne
Kona Highlands
It’s their future
When the Hawaiian royals adopted Christianity, the significance of Maunakea was reduced to a cultural icon. The ecosystems of Maunakea are important and protected according to 10 years of litigation. So, now science is stopped by a cultural icon under the pretense of its religious significance.
Herein is a serious problem for Hawaii’s population. Culture is a societal achievement intellectually attained through education, knowledge, i.e. science. Think of culture as a collection of memes that help a society survive and grow, or progress, relieving suffering and securing fulfillment for its members. Those memes that withstand the test of time; those that militate, mitigate, or eliminate suffering, and those that better enable an individual’s fulfillment energize society’s progress. Those on different paths will, through chance encounters and syncretism, come to understand the benefits of the new memes and merge with progressing cultures, even if those chance encounters are the result of capitalistic conquests of the Pacific. But what we must remember is that today, thanks to education through science, humanity is regaining the power to be one people.
We all need to understand that what happened to these islands, though unconscionable, was inevitable. How these aggressors got away with it was by dividing islanders through ideological inculcation, by dividing a polytheistic culture with a monotheistic religion.
Ideologues, demagogues, and pious pundits segregate people into peoples, and they do this to siphon power from an inclusive community. We can be one people when we remove the ideologies used to divide us.
Remember, it’s the future our keiki will inherit, not some long-gone past. And we need to empower our kids with education through science. This is a power that grows with use. And it’s the best power for counteracting politico-economic power.
VP Bryant
Waikoloa