Aloha to Healing: A New Veterans Home for Hawaii’s Heroes

 The 120-bed facility costed $93 million dollars to build, and broke ground in 2021; the same year as VAPIHCS’s own Daniel K. Akaka VA Clinic situated nearby at 91-1051 Franklin D. Roosevelt Ave, also in Kapolei. VAPIHCS has an inpatient care facility of its own called the Community Living Center (CLC) in Honolulu, but the State Veterans home was built to meet a growing need for more long-term care facilities for Veterans. 

“I was pleased to be invited to the opening of this state-of-the-art new facility, and to be able to tour it prior to its opening,” said Dr. Adam Robinson, Director VAPIHCS. “VAPIHCS does not work alone. Our facilities are part of the community, and seeing our own commitment to Veterans reflected back to us in the communities we serve, is meaningful to me.” 

The State of Hawaii opened the 95-bed Yukio Okutsu State Veterans home in Hilo in 2007, making the Daniel K Akaka State Veterans home the second of such facilities in the state of Hawaii. A third State Veterans home is planned for the island of Maui, though the State is still working to secure a location. State Veterans homes are located in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, providing long term care services for Veterans across the nation. 

Prior to the main event, a plaque and multipurpose room was dedicated to the late Col. Ronald Han, Jr., who was an instrumental advocate in making this new State Veterans Home a reality. Among the attendees was the family of Col. Han, the Akaka family, Governor Josh Green, VAPIHCS leadership, and many other members of the community, including those who served with Col. Han, representatives of several health care organizations, and stakeholders in the new facility. 

“It’s our hope - here in March of 2025 at the Daniel Kahikina Akaka State Veterans Home - which started with six patients, six soldiers, six heroes, will double and double again and double again so that over the years this 120-bed facility will care for thousands,” said Dr. Josh Green, Governor Hawaii. “Thousands of those we respect, thousands of those that we love.” 

The opening of the Daniel K. Akaka State Veterans Home comes just a few weeks before the one-year anniversary of the opening of the Daniel K. Akaka VA Clinic, which will take place on April 8, 2025. Though the clinic has been open for less than a year, it has already become a meaningful part of the community with monthly food distributions and information fairs, community events and resource fairs, and a growing list of services for Veterans, including urgent care, diagnostic services such as CT and MRI, a laboratory and pharmacy, a dental and optometry clinic, primary care, specialist care, and mental health. 

The Daniel K. Akaka VA Clinic also includes a Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) office, the West Oahu Vet Center, and Veterans Service Organization (VSO) offices. The Daniel K. Akaka VA Clinic provides an array of services never offered before by VA in the Pacific Islands, and we are honored to provide our Veterans with safe, quality, and compassionate care. The State Veterans Home will add to what Veterans have access to, giving them options for skilled nursing and palliative care.