Six Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act (NHHCIA) award recipients across the state received $20 million from the Biden Administration, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced last week.
The funding, which will last through July 2023, will focus on bolstering COVID response efforts for Native Hawaiians, as well as enhancing health care services in geographically isolated areas through 14 community-based partners. See a breakdown of the funds below:
Acting HRSA Administrator Diana Espinosa said:
“Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act award recipients understand the needs of Native Hawaiians and have partnerships with organizations in their communities. This uniquely positions them to increase equitable access to COVID-19 vaccination, testing, and treatment, as well as needed comprehensive primary care.”
Dr. Sheri-Ann Daniels, executive director for Papa Ola Lōkahi, said NHHCIA award recipients also plan to conduct an evaluation of the funds to report back to Congress. Daniels said the evaluation will use data from both the Native Hawaiian care systems receiving the funding, as well as community partners.
“What we want to really show to Congress, [is] what the value of that 20 million was to our community. We understand that it’s not just the cost of care … when we put in all the added long term potential benefits [of] those pieces, maybe we’re really leveraging it to be $75 million worth of value.”
Over 7,000 Native Hawaiian community members received services from NHHCIA award recipients last year. NHHCIA was first established as federal law in 1988, and is currently appropriated by Congress through the Health and Human Services Department (HHS). The act provides mandates for Native Hawaiian health and the protection of traditional healing practices, according to Daniels.
Despite the act’s 33-year establishment, Daniels said the pandemic brought equally long-existing challenges in the health care system to the surface. For example, she cited the inability for the state health department or other institutions to adapt to the needs of the community during the pandemic.
“You [have] to hold resource holders accountable. I don’t think we can be in silos anymore. I don’t think health institutions can, you know, have a different end goal than community…
But that comes with communication, and that comes with trust. I don’t know if trust was really established [between communities and institutions] during this time. And I think that the very huge key and factor is, ‘How do we build trust moving forward? How do we develop that sense of space?’”
Daniels said award recipients will work to execute contracts with their community-based partners over the next few weeks, with a goal of implementing services by October 1. Although the funds technically last through July 2023, Daniels clarified the funds will end at the 18-month mark to provide time for the evaluation report to be compiled and sent to Congress.