Hawaii resources via the Rural Health Information Hub

Resource: Mobility Matters: Differential Mobility Loss by Race and Ethnicity in Hawaiʻi

Fri, 08 May 2026 11:42:07 -0500

Examines how mobility limitations vary by White, Filipino, Japanese, or Native Hawaiian race and ethnicity among adults aged 55 years and older in Hawaii, using 2019-2021 Hawaii Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data. Includes demographic data breakdowns, including comparisons between those living on Oahu and those living on neighbor islands.

News: CMS Announces Resources, Flexibilities to Assist with Public Health Emergency in State of Hawaii

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 09:02:25 -0500

Announces additional resources and flexibilities from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to assist with the ongoing public health emergency (PHE) in Hawaii declared on March 10, 2026 related to the severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides. Shares information and resources for those impacted and responding to the severe storms and flooding, including CMS waivers, a period of special healthcare enrollment, a disaster toolkit, dialysis care, medical equipment and supplies replacement, access to Medicare Part D medications, and health information privacy and accessibility resources.

Organization: Hawai'i Public Health Institute

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:46:51 -0500

Supports public health in Hawaii through research, initiatives, and advocacy related to preventive medicine and behavioral health, workforce development and training, and community preparedness in partnership with community, government, and healthcare organizations across the Hawaiian Islands.

Event: 2026 Annual Hawaii Health Workforce Summit

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Honolulu HI
September 12, 2026 -- Hawaii and Pacific Basin Area Health Education Centers

Resource: Maternal and Child Health Services Title V Block Grant - Hawaii: FY 2026 Application/FY 2024 Annual Report

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 15:05:10 -0600

Describes Hawaii's maternal and child health programs, which include initiatives related to access to care, family violence and neglect, sleep environment, developmental screening, preventive care, mental health supports, and more. Includes discussion of rural topics including healthcare access, activities of the Office of Primary Care and Rural Health, and more. -- Hawaii State Department of Health

Resource: Plugged in to Public Health: Rural Health Beyond the Mainland; Transportation, Access, and Care in Hawaii

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 19:54:01 -0600

Discusses how transportation influences healthcare access in rural Hawaii. Describes how geographic isolation and transportation barriers influence access to primary and preventive care and create high demand for emergency medical services, and details policy implications related to public transit, non-emergency medical transportation, and greater access to primary care. Transcript available below audio player.

Resource: Report to the 2026 Legislature: Annual Report on Findings from the Hawai'i Physician Workforce Assessment Project

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:47:41 -0600

Reports on Hawaii physician workforce characteristics and shortages by county and specialty. Summarizes activities to support the physician workforce, including recruitment, rural training, and mentoring programming. Offers data on shortages by specialty and by county, as well as physician supply and demand data. -- Hawaii and Pacific Basin Area Health Education Centers

Resource: Perspectives of Community Health Center Employees on Public Bus Transportation in Rural Hawai'i County

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 13:10:19 -0600

Discusses perspectives on employee and patient use of public bus transportation to access a multi-location Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) within rural Hawai'i County. Identifies themes and provides interview excerpts from 10 participating employees on topics including the importance of transportation access in rural areas, barriers to bus use, and the role the community health center could play in supporting improved bus transportation.

Resource: Hawaiʻi's Rural Health Transformation Plan

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 08:46:23 -0600

Provides information on Hawaii's Rural Health Transformation Program. Summarizes proposed initiatives and includes links to Hawaii's application.

Resource: Report to the Thirty-Third Hawai'i State Legislature for Fiscal Year 2025

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 10:19:00 -0600

Reports on revenues, capital improvement projects, and regional systems from the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, a state agency network of public hospitals and clinics in Hawaii that predominantly serve rural areas of the state. Offers historical and current information on each facility starting on PDF page 76, including Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Health Clinics. Discusses quality improvement, renovation projects, trends in healthcare policy and service models, and more. -- Hawaii Health Systems Corporation

Resource: Recovery Through a Disability Lens: Impacts of the 2023 Maui Wildfires on Disability Equity and Shared Prosperity

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 14:31:16 -0600

Reports on the impacts of the August 2023 Hawaii wildfires on the housing, employment and income, health, and life satisfaction of West Maui or Kula residents with disabilities. Details how disaster preparedness and recovery policy influence health and quality-of-life disparities for people with disabilities.

Resource: Medicare Physician Fee-For-Service Payments: Adjusting for Variation in Geographic Practice Costs and Challenges for Hawaiʻi

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 13:08:56 -0600

Reports on policy approaches to Medicare reimbursement in Hawaii in order to address provider shortages and limited access to care associated with the state's geographic isolation and high cost of living. Discusses how Medicare policy impacts reimbursement and service availability in rural, remote, and frontier areas. -- University of Hawaiʻi Rural Health Research & Policy Center

Resource: Hawai'i Healthcare Workforce Initiative 2024 Report

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 15:55:08 -0600

Reports on health workforce supply and demand in Hawaii and identifies strategies, training programs, and other initiatives to address workforce shortages. See pages 39-59 for health workforce professions data for select specialties on the islands of O'ahu, Hawai'i, Maui, Kaua'i, Moloka'i, and Lāna'i. -- Healthcare Association of Hawaii

Resource: Hawaii Rural Obstetrical Workforce

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 09:41:31 -0500

Offers maps and tables of the obstetricians and advanced practice midwives workforce distribution in Hawaii in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons. -- WWAMI Rural Health Research Center

Resource: Hawaii Rural Primary Care Workforce

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 08:52:26 -0500

Offers maps and tables of the primary care workforce distribution in Hawaii in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons. -- WWAMI Rural Health Research Center

Resource: Hawaii Rural Behavioral Health Workforce

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 11:55:11 -0500

Offers maps and tables of the supply and distribution of behavioral health clinicians in Hawaii in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons. -- WWAMI Rural Health Research Center

Resource: Physician Recruitment and Retention in an Underserved Community: The Role of a Premedical Research Program

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 10:13:35 -0500

Discusses physician shortages in rural and medically underserved areas and discusses the impact of the Hawaii Pacific Health (HPH) Summer Student Research Program (SSRP) to provide clinical and research experiences to pre-medical students in Hawaii. Analyzes 393 SSRP alumni experiences from 1986-2023 according to medical school admission, residency, practice location, and more. Discusses the importance of community-level programs to improve recruitment and retention of the local healthcare workforce.

Resource: Maui Together For a Healthier Tomorrow

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 14:06:40 -0500

Provides data from a survey of fire survivors, volunteers, healthcare professionals, and other people in Maui county on the impacts of Hawaii's August 2023 fires, including associated resources such as a wildfire assessment report and a video presentation of survey findings with transcript accessible through the video control bar. Details wildfire-associated impacts on healthcare access, mental health, supply of healthcare professionals, housing, finances and cost of living, and other topics related to health and well-being. -- Hawaii State Rural Health Association

Resource: Progress and Vulnerability Two Years After the Wildfires: A Data-Driven Update from the Maui Recovery Survey

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 12:29:17 -0500

Reports on the impact of the August 2023 Hawaii wildfires on housing, employment, income, and government and community organization assistance among those who lived, worked, or owned a business in in West Maui or Kula at the time of the fires. The associated Maui Recovery Dashboard includes additional data on survey participant demographics, employment, income, needs, and assistance.

Organization: University of Hawaiʻi Rural Health Research & Policy Center

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:15:46 -0500

Focuses in the improvement of rural health in Hawaii through community engagement and policy research. Research topics have included geographic impacts on healthcare availability and policies to address health workforce availability and reduce financial burdens on care providers.

Organization: Health Services Advisory Group

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 15:58:26 -0500

A Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) working with patients, providers, facilities, and government agencies to improve the health of people in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

Resource: Exploring Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Youths' E-Cigarette Resistance Strategies: Implications for Tobacco Product Use Prevention

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 14:04:15 -0600

Examines strategies to resist e-cigarette use and vaping among predominantly Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) youth attending elementary, middle/intermediate, and multi-level schools in low-income, rural communities on the Island of Hawaii. Provides results of interviews with 69 youths, detailing strategies including overt refusal, explanation, avoidance, leaving, and more.

Resource: Exploring Youths' Offers to Use E-Cigarettes in Rural Hawai'i: A Test Development and Validation Study

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 10:01:08 -0600

Examines experiences of being offered e-cigarettes among middle school youths in rural Hawaii. Provides data on frequency of experiencing various offer situations, and identifies cultural and environmental factors influencing acceptance of offers to use e-cigarettes. Discusses implications for e-cigarette prevention among rural Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) youth in rural areas.

Resource: Addressing Physician Shortage in Hawai'i - Kaua'i Medical Training Opportunities

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:21:11 -0600

Provides an overview of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine's Kaua'i Medical Training Track (KMTT), a medical education rural training track focused on addressing physician shortages in rural Kaua'i County. Details features of the KMTT facilitating rural exposure and effective training.

Resource: Recruitment and Retention in the National Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Change Program in Two Federally Qualified Health Centers in Rural Hawaiʻi

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 11:15:53 -0500

Examines factors influencing enrollment and participation in the National Diabetes Prevention Program lifestyle change program (National DPP LCP) which was administered by Federally Qualified Health Center coaches in Hawai'i. Identifies motivators, barriers, facilitators, and suggestions for program participation from interviews with 14 female enrollees. Highlights perspectives of Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, and Filipino interviewees.

Resource: A Rural Community Readiness Assessment of Prehospital Telestroke Services in the Ambulance

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 11:17:11 -0500

Assesses community perspectives on the acceptability of ambulance-based prehospital stroke telemedicine services in rural and urban communities in O'ahu, Hawai'i. Utilizes questionnaire results of 263 adults recruited from community events, with additional data from 29 follow-up interviews. Compares rural and urban attitudes toward ambulance telestroke services, local hospitals, and Hawai'i's healthcare system, and identifies positive and negative themes affecting acceptability.

Resource: Rural Health Disparities in Hawai'i

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 13:21:53 -0500

Highlights rural health disparities in Hawaii related to overall health perception, physical health, and mental health. Includes discussion of disparities within rural areas for people with disabilities and people with incomes below the poverty line. Offers rural and urban comparisons, sociodemographic characteristics of surveyed individuals, and policy implications for study findings.

Resource: Hawaiʻi Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Success: Community Health Improvement Plan

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 16:24:51 -0500

Presents a plan to improve substance use prevention in Hawaiʻi, outlining goals and guiding decision-making and project administration. Includes discussion of rural and Native Hawaiian populations affected by substance use and treatment disparities.

Resource: Hawai'i Strategic Framework Partnerships for Success: Community Health Assessment

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 16:13:44 -0500

Examines substance use in Hawai'i, including discussion of trends, risks, and protective factors. Utilizes 2021 Hawai'i State Epidemiologic Report and County Profiles data. Identifies use and treatment disparities experienced by Native Hawaiians, rural populations, and other underserved groups.

Resource: Kaua'i Rural and Public Health Selective: A Family Medicine Residency First

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 14:02:35 -0500

Examines the "Kaua'i Rural and Public Health Selective" training opportunity meant to better integrate public health professionals and primary care clinicians. Describes the rural public health activities of the graduate medical education (GME) residents taking part in the selective.