A man of true aloha
First of all, Billy Kenoi did a lot on the Big Island during his tenure as mayor of Hawaii County. He was a doer more than a talker and had a mind of a super genius.
Prior to the late, great Kenoi’s tenure, there was almost a war like attitude between West Hawaii and East Hawaii where the Kona side of the island produced a bigger chunk of the County of Hawaii’s revenues, but, didn’t have the county government support systems of Hilo. Kenoi magically healed this wound with government services as witnessed in the West Hawaii Civic Center.
Kenoi was also a man of true aloha. He transcended racial barriers with his super aloha making the Big Island a true melting pot. Kenoi was a friend of mine, and he was a positive individual who cared for the community. All I can say, Billy Kenoi will be truly missed by the state of Hawaii and he is a legend in my heart.
Dean Nagasako
Honokaa
Protect each other
Dear Harrison Yelton: In your Thursday letter you “think you will take those odds (of dying from COVID) and resume … everything else I have curtailed.” Everything? Like wearing masks, social distancing, washing your hands? Why do you think Hawaii has stayed and still is relatively safe? It’s because Hawaii’s citizens have been and still are protecting each other by following scientific guidelines. Curtail it all now and bravo for your self-centered perspective, your willingness to casually infect me (I’m older than 70) and my friends who are vulnerable to your selfish behavior. While you prepare to go about town ignoring guidelines and spreading your personal germs, which may include undiagnosed COVID, you become a potential killer of some (you do know that people under 70 also die of COVID) and a “Typhoid Mary” for others whom you sicken but do not kill. What are the odds when individuals like you don’t care about the rest of us?
Barry Blum, MD
Kailua-Kona
A solution to Our Care, Our Choice Act problem
The Our Care, Our Choice Act has been in effect in Hawaii for over two years now. Yet many eligible terminally ill patients are having trouble accessing the law, causing needless suffering. The growing critical shortage of physicians makes it very difficult to find the two doctors required to qualify for medical aid in dying, especially on the neighbor islands.
Senate Bill 839/House Bill 487 has a solution to this problem: Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs), also known as Nurse Practitioners (NPs), are highly trained providers helping to fill this medical professional gap in virtually all other areas of medical care. The Our Care, Our Choice Act currently limits their scope of practice and prevents them from supporting their patients who want the option of medical aid in dying.
Even when a terminally ill patient finds two doctors, many do not survive the mandatory minimum 20-day waiting period. Kaiser and Hawaii Pacific Health has reported that at least 21 eligible patients died before they could get their medication. Providers should be allowed to waive the waiting period for their patients if the patient is unlikely to survive the mandatory minimum 20 days and completes all of the other steps to qualify for the Our Care, Our Choice Act.
Please call your state legislators today to support SB839/HB487 to improve the Our Care, Our Choice Act. Only online testimony will be accepted for this legislative session at www.capitol.hawaii.gov. Once a bill is scheduled for a hearing, legislative committees will only accept online testimony for 48 hours. Learn more at https://www.compassionandchoices.org/in-your-state/hawaii.
Caroline Kunitake
Holualoa
Letters policy
Letters to the editor should be 300 words or less and will be edited for style and grammar. Longer viewpoint guest columns may not exceed 800 words. Submit online at www.westhawaiitoday.com/?p=118321, via email to letters@westhawaiitoday.com or address them to:
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West Hawaii Today
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