VA Pacific Islands Health Care System

VA Pacific Islands Health Care System
VA Pacific Islands Health Care System
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Geography
Location	459 Patterson Road, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Coordinates	21°21′41″N 157°53′22″W / 21.361470174244033°N 157.88938193618006°W
Organisation
Care system	Triwest
Funding	Government hospital
Type	VA medical facility
Services
Emergency department	No
Links
Website	www.va.gov/pacific-islands-health-care/
Lists	Hospitals in U.S.

The VA Pacific Islands Health Care System, also called the VAPIHCS, is a United States Department of Veterans Affairs health care organization consisting of 12 sites of care across the Pacific Islands.

Geography

The geographic catchment area of VAPIHCS across the Pacific.

The geographic coverage area of this VA Medical Center extends across much of the Pacific. The catchment area extends from the Hawaiian Islands, to Guam, Saipan, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and to American Samoa. VA will be extending care into the COFA states.^[1]^[2] This expansion increases the geographic coverage to approximately 8.5 million sq miles, or more than twice the area of the continental United States.

Operations

VAPIHCS is currently one of three VA Medical Centers without an inpatient hospital. It does however have a combination of inpatient, outpatient, residential, and nursing home treatment services through either VA owned facilities, or through partnerships with other community health care organizations.^[3]

The Spark. M Matsunaga VA Medical Center is located on the grounds of the Tripler Army Medical Center military facility^[4] in Honolulu, Hawaii and comprises three VA facilities, the Ambulatory Care Clinic (ACC), the Center For Aging (CFA) building which currently houses both the Community Living Center (CLC) and the PTSD Residential Recovery Program (PRRP), and the administrative E-Wing building. The other sites of care under the VAPIHCS umbrella are the Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) across the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.

On April 8th, 2024, the Daniel Kahikina Akaka Community Based Outpatient Clinic opened in Kapolei, Oahu. This new $130 million facility is an 88,000 sq foot VA-owned clinic on the west side of Oahu and provides multispecialty outpatient care.^[5]^[6]^[7] It was named after the late United States Senator Daniel Akaka, an Army Veteran and champion for Veteran healthcare.^[4]^[8]

Sites of Care

VAPIHCS Headquarters: Honolulu, Hawaii

Facility	City	State	Type
Spark M. Matsunaga Veterans Affairs Medical Center	Honolulu	HI	VAMC
Daniel K. Akaka Multispecialty Community Based Outpatient Clinic	Kapolei	HI	CBOC
Windward Community Based Outpatient Clinic	Kaneohe	HI	CBOC
Kona Community Based Outpatient Clinic	Kona	HI	CBOC
Hilo Community Based Outpatient Clinic	Hilo	HI	CBOC
Maui Community Based Outpatient Clinic	Kahului	HI	CBOC
Kauai Community Based Outpatient Clinic	Kauai County	HI	CBOC
Guam Community Based Outpatient Clinic	Agana Heights	GU	CBOC
American Samoa Community Based Outpatient Clinic	Pago Pago	AS	CBOC

Data sourced from va.gov

Services

Primary Care
Women's Health
Specialty Care

Cardiology
Gastroenterology
Neurology
Endocrinology
Podiatry
Optometry
Infectious Diseases

Mental Health Services

Outpatient Mental Health
PTSD Residential Recovery Program (PRRP)

Geriatrics and Extended Care

GeriPACT Outpatient Clinics
Home Based Primary Care (HBPC)
Hospital in Home (HiH)
Community Living Center nursing home

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Physical and Occupational Therapy
Audiology
Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders (SCI/D)
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Acupuncture

Dentistry
Diagnostic Radiology
Pharmacy
Laboratory
Whole Health

Data sourced from va.gov

Education

VAPIHCS has over 100 academic affiliations including:

John A. Burns School of Medicine^[9]
Tripler Army Medical Center^[3]^[10]
University Of Guam’s School of Nursing & Health Sciences^[11]
Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo

Research Non-Profit

The Pacific Health Research and Education Institute (PHREI) is a non-profit organization affiliated with the VAPIHCS in order to promote the advancement of health care in the Pacific Region with emphasis on Veteran health issues.

Accreditation

Joint Commission.^[12]
The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
Ascellon Corporation

References

^ "U.S. Government Moves to Expand Health Care to Pacific Veterans". The New York Times. Citizens of three Pacific Island nations, eligible to serve in the U.S. military, have faced a Catch-22 in gaining access to certain benefits. That may change soon.
^ "Congress Restores Federal Benefits To COFA Migrants As Part Of $7.1 Billion Aid Deal". Honolulu Civil Beat. The VA would no longer be restricted from providing services to veterans residing in the FAS, including through direct care from VA providers, such as via telehealth, or through contracts with community providers; shipping medications to the FAS," according to a press release. "And reimbursing veterans for travel from their home countries to the United States.
^ ^a ^b "The VA's Pacific Island Director Wants Closer Cooperation With Tripler". Honolulu Civil Beat. Doperak noted that the VA also sponsors civilian residents to train within Tripler's Graduate Medical Education and Graduate Health Education training programs.
^ ^a ^b "Veterans clinic named after Akaka". Spectrum News. It is expected that the new facility will ultimately reduce wait times, increase provider availability and ease traffic and parking challenges that veterans currently experience at Tripler Army Medical Center, where the Spark Matsunaga Veterans Affairs Medical Center is located.
^ "Groundbreaking held for new VA clinic in Kalaeloa". KHON2 News Hawaii. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new VA clinic in Kalaeloa on Tuesday, Dec. 21. The new medical building is scheduled to open in late 2023.
^ "VA Pacific Islands Health Care System is Expanding to West Side of Oahu". VA News. This week, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awarded the lease to locate the Advanced Leeward Outpatient Healthcare Access (ALOHA) project at Kalaeloa under a 15-year lease. When completed, the ALOHA Project will be a new 88,675 square-foot multi-specialty VA clinic that will provide Primary Care, Mental Health, Specialty Care, Audiology, Women Veterans Care, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Dental and Prosthetics.
^ "New Akaka clinic already making a difference". VA News. On April 8, Pacific Islands VA opened the doors of the new Daniel Akaka VA Clinic in Kapolei. Completed on budget and on time, the $130 million, 88,675 square-foot outpatient clinic will provide primary and mental health care, x-ray, laboratory and diagnostic services, a pharmacy and specialty care for Veterans on Oahu and Veterans throughout the Pacific Islands who come here for care.
^ "Hirono Bill Naming ALOHA VA Clinic For Senator Daniel K. Akaka Signed Into Law". Senator Mazie K. Hirono Press Release (Press release). Today, President Joseph R. Biden signed into law legislation introduced by Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to name the Advanced Leeward Outpatient Health Care Access (ALOHA) VA clinic—which is currently under construction on Oahu—after the late former Hawaii Senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka. During his time in the Senate, Senator Akaka first spearheaded the project working alongside Hawaii veterans.
^ "Affiliated Healthcare Facilities". John A. Burns School of Medicine. VA clinics are a training site for the JABSOM Geriatrics, Internal Medicine and Psychiatry programs.
^ "DHA Graduate Medical Education". Health.mil. GEM Partners: Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations
^ "Margaret Perez Hattori-Uchima School of Health: Partners & Professional Organizations". University of Guam. MOUs and Clinical Sites: VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System
^ "Accelerating Efforts to Improve Equity for Veterans". The Joint Commission Blog. At the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), health care equity has long been a concern, and we embraced The Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) that launched on July 1, 2023. The NPSG, which addresses health care disparities as a quality and safety priority, has helped health care equity become deeply embedded into the quality and patient safety framework.

External links

[1] "U.S. Government Moves to Expand Health Care to Pacific Veterans". The New York Times. Citizens of three Pacific Island nations, eligible to serve in the U.S. military, have faced a Catch-22 in gaining access to certain benefits. That may change soon.

[2] "Congress Restores Federal Benefits To COFA Migrants As Part Of $7.1 Billion Aid Deal". Honolulu Civil Beat. The VA would no longer be restricted from providing services to veterans residing in the FAS, including through direct care from VA providers, such as via telehealth, or through contracts with community providers; shipping medications to the FAS," according to a press release. "And reimbursing veterans for travel from their home countries to the United States.

[partner-3] "The VA's Pacific Island Director Wants Closer Cooperation With Tripler". Honolulu Civil Beat. Doperak noted that the VA also sponsors civilian residents to train within Tripler's Graduate Medical Education and Graduate Health Education training programs.

[DanielAkaka-4] "Veterans clinic named after Akaka". Spectrum News. It is expected that the new facility will ultimately reduce wait times, increase provider availability and ease traffic and parking challenges that veterans currently experience at Tripler Army Medical Center, where the Spark Matsunaga Veterans Affairs Medical Center is located.

[5] "Groundbreaking held for new VA clinic in Kalaeloa". KHON2 News Hawaii. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new VA clinic in Kalaeloa on Tuesday, Dec. 21. The new medical building is scheduled to open in late 2023.

[6] "VA Pacific Islands Health Care System is Expanding to West Side of Oahu". VA News. This week, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awarded the lease to locate the Advanced Leeward Outpatient Healthcare Access (ALOHA) project at Kalaeloa under a 15-year lease. When completed, the ALOHA Project will be a new 88,675 square-foot multi-specialty VA clinic that will provide Primary Care, Mental Health, Specialty Care, Audiology, Women Veterans Care, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Dental and Prosthetics.

[7] "New Akaka clinic already making a difference". VA News. On April 8, Pacific Islands VA opened the doors of the new Daniel Akaka VA Clinic in Kapolei. Completed on budget and on time, the $130 million, 88,675 square-foot outpatient clinic will provide primary and mental health care, x-ray, laboratory and diagnostic services, a pharmacy and specialty care for Veterans on Oahu and Veterans throughout the Pacific Islands who come here for care.

[8] "Hirono Bill Naming ALOHA VA Clinic For Senator Daniel K. Akaka Signed Into Law". Senator Mazie K. Hirono Press Release (Press release). Today, President Joseph R. Biden signed into law legislation introduced by Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to name the Advanced Leeward Outpatient Health Care Access (ALOHA) VA clinic—which is currently under construction on Oahu—after the late former Hawaii Senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka. During his time in the Senate, Senator Akaka first spearheaded the project working alongside Hawaii veterans.

[9] "Affiliated Healthcare Facilities". John A. Burns School of Medicine. VA clinics are a training site for the JABSOM Geriatrics, Internal Medicine and Psychiatry programs.

[10] "DHA Graduate Medical Education". Health.mil. GEM Partners: Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations

[11] "Margaret Perez Hattori-Uchima School of Health: Partners & Professional Organizations". University of Guam. MOUs and Clinical Sites: VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System

[12] "Accelerating Efforts to Improve Equity for Veterans". The Joint Commission Blog. At the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), health care equity has long been a concern, and we embraced The Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) that launched on July 1, 2023. The NPSG, which addresses health care disparities as a quality and safety priority, has helped health care equity become deeply embedded into the quality and patient safety framework.

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