Director's Message April 14, 2023

We will be hiring in stages, starting with positions on Oahu, and then moving to hiring for positions on the other Hawaiian Islands, as well as positions at our Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) in Guam and American Samoa. Services to be provided will include positions such as housekeeping and janitorial, pest control, grounds maintenance, and contract management. 

Having these services provided in-house will help improve efficiency and response times. The goal is to be able to react right away to an employee seeing a pest in a clinic or needing something cleaned up. These jobs will be from entry level all the way to management. Keep an eye out for postings on USA jobs in the weeks to come, but if you already know that you are interested, you may contact: 

POC Administrative Officer Angelica.Loza-Tapia@va.gov 808-743-1812
POC Facilities Service Assistant Shantal.Mcintosh@va.gov 808-830-7892

Whole Health 

April is Whole Health Month. This month, we’d like to highlight the importance of putting the Veteran in the center of their health care. We seek to recognize and honor each person’s culture, values, and vision for their lives. Many factors can influence Veterans as unique health care consumers, including gender, culture, preferred language, and other factors. Whole Health encourages each Veteran to discover their own mission, aspiration, and purpose. This ultimately drives a commitment to health and wellbeing. 

This year’s Whole Health Month campaign has three main goals. First, we want to bring awareness to whole health and the transformation of the VA health care system. Second, we want to encourage Veterans to learn more about how whole health can benefit them. And finally, we want to recognize that there have already been positive changes in the lives of many Veterans who used the whole health model to discover what they wanted, and then worked with their VA health care team to achieve those goals. 

Whole health seeks to define people as more than a collection of symptoms that need to be diagnosed. The goal is to look at the whole person, including what unique needs they may have. If a grandmother seeks to be able to get down on the floor to play with her grandchildren, then a VA health care team might recommend yoga to help with flexibility, or Tai Chi to help with balance. If a Veteran lost a parent young due to a heart attack, they might want to prioritize cardio and learn about eating heart-healthy foods while cutting their sodium levels. Every Veteran may have different priorities and individual needs, from finding ways to remain in their own home as they age to participating in competitive sports. When we look at what a Veteran wants and then provide health advice designed to assist them in getting it, this leads to a higher compliance with taking medication and following prescribed treatments. 

If you would like to get started on your path to whole health, talk with your doctor about what your health care priorities are, and ask what VA programs are available to help support those goals. You can also watch videos online about different aspects of whole health so you can be prepared to ask informed questions. Most importantly, take the time to evaluate your life. Think about things you’d like to change. Do you want to quit smoking? Do you need help giving up drugs or alcohol? Do you want to talk with a therapist or get screened for diseases that run in your family? Whatever your priorities are, your health care team is here to help you improve your life. Make an appointment by calling 1-800-214-1306.

Holocaust Day of Remembrance 

VA will observe a Day of Remembrance for victims of the Holocaust on April 18, 2023, in the Hastings Conference Room in E-wing from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. National and International days of remembrance are marked around the world, and it’s as important today as it was when the first Holocaust Remembrance Day was declared. 

The first Holocaust Remembrance Days in the US were April 28 and 29, 1979. These days were chosen because it is when the Allied Forced Liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp. Dachau was just one of the camps spread across Germany and Poland before and during WWII. Of course, the most famous was the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. It is often said that evil found willing servants and innocent victims there. For almost five years, Auschwitz was a factory for murder where more than 1.1 million people, including one million Jews and over 200,000 children. Those who were not sent directly to gas chambers were sentenced to forced labor.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower famously asked troops to record everything. He asked for pictures, video, and written statements; because he felt certain that someday, people would try to burry this shameful piece of history. In the modern day, we can see that he was right, and that there are those who claim today that the Holocaust did not happen. We must work to collectively preserve the memories and history of all our past, including the Holocaust, to serve as a reminder that these acts must not happen again — and that we must fight the persecution of people for ethnic, religious, or political reasons.

People of Jewish decent still face persecution in much of the world today. Holocaust Remembrance Day is also an opportunity to educate yourself about recent attacks on Jewish people here in our own country, such as the brutal attacks that took place two years ago this month at synagogues in New York. Jewish cemeteries and restaurants have also been vandalized in cities across our nation. In January of last year, a synagogue in Texas was attacked. In April of last year, a man used a car to intentionally hit several Jewish men in New Jersey. These are just examples of a wider trend, which has existed in the United States for as long as we have been a country.

Let us take time to reflect on the antisemitism that is alive and well in our nation, and how we can combat such discrimination to make ours a more equal and perfect union. I always say that this country needs the voices of all its citizens to truly be great. More importantly, we need to remember and to teach the history of all of us. Without reflection on our history and our truths, we cannot hope to move forward together in the spirit of mutual cooperation and unity which is so necessary to our future.

Thoughts from Chaplain Richie Charles

Despite living approximately 2,400 years ago, Plato, an Athenian Philosopher, is still revered by many today. He’s famous -in part- for recording in writing a dialogue of Socrates called “The Allegory of the Cave,” which has been considered one of the most significant pieces of literary work in history.

In this allegory, it imagines a group of people who were captive in an underground cave. In front of them are shadows projected on the wall. These figures on the wall are only the shadows of the real objects and puppets which are behind them. Also behind those in the cave is a fire creating a source of light. Since the people in the cave are only able to look forward and can only see in front of them, all they have seen and known all their lives are those shadows.  In the minds of these captives, those figures on the wall are not merely shadows, but are the real things themselves.  But the ancient narrative goes on to ponder what would happen if one of the persons in the cave managed to break free and experience the real things of the outside world. The allegory concluded that if the person were to go back and try to convince others of the real wonders of the world that exist beyond the cave, his message would be met with hostility. And those in the cave would prefer to reject his message, rather than venture to leave the safety and comfort of the shadows they’ve been accustomed to.

Sometimes change can be a scary experience. Being confronted with new ways of doing things can initially feel unpleasant, like when a person turns on the light switch in the middle of the night when we’re sleeping. But though new light can initially feel irritating, we would likely all agree that being enlightened with improved ideas is better than the comfort of the dark.

Are there some new ways you can envision offering an even better version of the service you already provide? And does it require that some things change? Let’s commit to the best way, even if it’s not the oldest way.

One Team, One Ohana!
Adam M. Robinson, Jr., MD, MBA, CPE
Director, VA Pacific Islands Health Care System
VADM, MC, USN, (RET)
36th Surgeon General, USN

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