• Menehune are real! • Make voice heard on health care
Menehune are real!
On Saturday, Feb. 22, after suffering a mild heart attack, my husband had to be airlifted from Kauai for an emergency cardiac catheterization at Queens Hospital. We were flown to Oahu by Hawaii Life Flight services. During the trip, we had time to converse with the two EMTs who administered to my husband. In passing we joked about our truck, filled with gardening rubbish, that had been left in the emergency room parking lot. Earlier in the day, the Princeville transfer station green waste area had been closed and we were unable to dump it. The gentlemen, Noel and Spencer, said they had noticed it in the parking lot and had a chuckle about it.
Upon our return to Kauai on Monday, we went to retrieve our vehicle from the Wilcox Hospital parking lot. Much to our surprise, the truck bed was empty — green waste gone!
This was very perplexing. Are menehune real? We can only assume that the guys — one or both of them — came back to the hospital and removed the debris.
We wanted to let their employers know what wonderful people work for them, and we also wanted our community at large to know as well. And by the way, these gentlemen performed their professional duties, tending to my husband, with skill and compassion.
Furthermore, upon our return to our home, we found that the menehune were at work there, too. We had left quickly amid laundry day. Luckily, the last load was in the dryer, but I left the bed unmade and the sheets and towels stacked in the bedroom. We discovered that some good friends had actually come over to check on the house to be sure that, in the rush, it was securely closed up (Thank you, Kathy and Rich).
It is comforting to know that, in a crisis, there are so many people with the true spirit of aloha in their hearts.
Nadine Schwartz & Michael Rothman
Princeville
Make voice heard on health care
Hawaii residents have an opportunity this spring to weigh in on a timely and important topic: health care.
For months, the news has been buzzing about changes in our health care system, and as millions of Americans begin to take a more active role in their health care, now is an important time for everyone with health insurance to make their voices heard.
Through April, health insurers are conducting a survey called the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, which is mailed to select people with health insurance, including those enrolled in an individual plan, an employer-sponsored plan and Medicare. Responding to the survey by mail or phone is one way you can become part of the broader effort to improve our nation’s health care system. Responses are kept anonymous.
Survey responses help the government and insurance providers identify ways to better serve people and improve the care they receive. The government and insurers want to make sure that people in Hawaii receive good medical care from doctors they trust. The CAHPS survey is one tool used to achieve this goal.
The CAHPS survey is an important opportunity for Americans to have a say in how health care changes in the years ahead. I encourage Hawaii residents to respond to the survey, as this one simple step can help improve health care for all of us.
Ron Fujimoto
Chief medical officer
UnitedHealthcare’s Community Plan for Hawaii
