Open house explores public health

LIHUE — Two of the schools signed up to participate in Friday’s Kauai District Health Office open house canceled at the last moment because of concerns over inclement weather.

But the Waimea High School Early College students and Ke Kula Niihau O Kekaha Hawaiian immersion schools were present at the event which was being celebrated as part of National Public Health Week.

“I like this ‘it can’t rain on Kalena Park’ (for the survey the county is asking people to take online),” said Bev Brody of Get Fit Kauai, one of the open house sponsors. “We’re going to take a walk in the sun with the exercises this morning. I’m busy because I have to go to the Lihue Public Library after this. It’s National Library day, or something?”

Hosted by about a hundred staff and Kauai Medical Reserve Corps volunteers, the hosting health office also had special guests from Honolulu and Maui who flew in to supplement the efforts of the KDHO, as well as get a feel for the event in hopes of having a similar event on their home islands.

Toni Torres of Public Health Nursing said Debra Blair, Nicole Aguinaldo and Heidi Taogoshi — she has relatives on Kauai — are from the Maui Department of Health who came down to experience the Kauai event in hopes of trying to establish a similar event back on Maui.

“Remember the Maui wildfires?” Torres said. “Heidi is the Employee of the Year for the Department of Health because of the work she did trying to help victims of the fires.”

The Waimea High School Early College students will be earning Public Health certificates when the college hosts its graduation festivities on May 16, a week ahead of the public high school graduations on May 23.

The Chronic Disease Prevention quizzed open house participants about the flu and measles, and with the rising news coverage of dengue fever, Vector Control became topic of conversation.

Hannah Collins-Doijode is a graduate of Kapaa High School, and was part of the six students from the University of Hawaii John A Burns School of Medicine who was helping register guests as well as helping guests through the facility that included more than 20 different vendor station offering activities and education.