Director's Message August 5, 2022
August is National Immunization Month. VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPIHCS) priority remains vaccinating as many individuals as possible and getting booster shots to those who have already had the vaccine.
Vaccination is still the best way to prevent serious illness. However, COVID-19 isn’t the only important vaccine to get. It’s also important to get flu shots, as well as vaccines like Shingles and Hepatitis if you are at risk. Call 1-800-214-1306 to make an appointment.
National Minority Donor Awareness Month
August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month (NMDAM), when we call attention to the gap between the number of organ donors and the number of African Americans, Latinx, and Asian Americans who need life-saving organs and tissues. Currently, more than 100,000 people are waiting for a life-saving organ in the U.S. Of those, more than 60% represent racial and ethnic minorities. These figures highlight why it’s so important for minority citizens to consider organ and tissue donation. A single donor can save up to eight lives and help as many as 75 more through tissue donation. Everyone who signs up represents hope for healing or a second chance at life for someone in need.
VA Pacific Islands Health Care System Pharmacy Department
The VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPHICS) Pharmacy department is one of our most versatile departments. They service on-site care locations such as the Community Living Center (CLC), and Veterans across the entire coverage area of VAPIHCS. Over 85% of the prescriptions that they fill are done through the mail, but they also have a drive-up area and a walk-up location on the second floor of the Spark Matsunaga Ambulatory Care Center (ACC). In addition to this, they work in collaboration with local pharmacies when necessary to ensure that Veterans can get their medications.
“We’re here twenty-four hours a day seven days a week,” said Chief of Pharmacy Services Dr. Gloriann Watson. “Veterans can call us no matter what the time, and we’ll help them.”
That doesn’t mean a Veteran can walk into the ACC at 2 a.m. to refill a prescription. Most of the time, Pharmacy will discuss their needs over the phone, and have a prescription mailed out to them in the morning or prepared for pick up. However, in extreme cases where a diabetic has run out of insulin or a Veteran needs a medication immediately, Pharmacy will make sure that they get it no matter the time of day or night. This is necessary because some medications are so important that not having them could result in a Veteran being hospitalized or worse.
The local Oahu number for Pharmacy is 808-433-0050, and then press 1. However, Veterans in Guam and the CNMI will likely need to call the 800 number, which is 1-800-214-1306, and then press 1. For American Samoa, a local number has been established which is 684-699-3730. VAPIHCS Pharmacy wants to make sure you know that they are here for you, no matter what.
Whole Health August
Whole Health is the idea that a patient is more than an illness or a mental health issue to treat; they are a unique person. Each patient we see has different health goals and is motivated by different dreams. Seeing the patient as a whole and asking what matters to them can improve outcomes. This month, the Whole Health theme is “Friends, Family, and Co-workers.” Supportive relationships improve your health and well-being. It’s worthwhile to assess your relationships and improve them, as well as to forgive those who might have hurt you to help relieve the pain of damaged relationships. Surrounding yourself with positive relationships helps keep you well. That’s why doctors encourage you to ensure that you have a good support system to help you in time of mental or physical health difficulties.
Thoughts from Chaplain Richie Charles
I would imagine that few people ever relish the idea of learning anything new about spiders, but there exists a particular species of spiders that promises to reveal a thing or two of the value of taking time to “breathe”. The water spider, also known as the diving bell spider, is the only kind of spider in the world that lives underwater.
Yet despite it making its abode under water, the water spider still manages to breathe by creating its own personal air bubble. This air bubble serves as its own portable air supply, functioning similarly to an oxygen tank used by a scuba-diver. Surrounded and enveloped by water, the water spider lives below, yet manages to catch the air from above.
But water spiders aren’t the only ones who need to be intentional about their breathing. In our desire to be of service to all those around us, we can sometimes forget the value of taking time to “catch our own breath”. Self-care can sometimes seem like an optional luxury. But water spiders understand that they cannot indefinitely operate effectively in the waters below without taking regular moments to “refill their tank.”
Taking time to “breathe” is about tending to our interior life, regularly engaging in activities of self-care that refresh and reinvigorate us internally. Whether it be spending quality time with our loved ones, cultivating our faith and spirituality, or basking in the outdoors, self-care allows for moments when we can air out our souls.
Like the water spider, we can then emerge from these moments of renewal with our own renewed supply of vigor and encouragement to take with us wherever go, being better able to address the issues before us, and be of even better service to our Veterans.
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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