Director's Message January 13, 2023
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. Sometimes it can seem that he was born into a world that is long gone.
However, that simply isn’t true. Famous TV personality Barbara Walters -who died just weeks ago- was born in 1929. TV personality Bob Newhart -who is still alive- was born in 1929. Famous artist Yayoi Kusama -also still alive- was born in 1929.
When we think about Civil Rights, and the struggles that Black Americans went through to end segregation, it’s important to keep in mind just how fresh that struggle is in the collective mind of the generation of people who lived through it. How long might Dr. King have lived if he hadn’t been assassinated for his beliefs in 1968? What would he have to say about America now? We should ask ourselves these questions as we honor his legacy, because the struggle for equal rights has not ended; it goes on today.
In 2022, Oprah Winfrey produced a documentary about health care disparities that occurred during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. This documentary is called “The Color of Care,” and if you haven’t seen it yet, I encourage you to make the time to do so. It’s an emotional account of the increased difficulty Black Americans faced in receiving health care, and how that difficulty led to many unnecessary deaths. Here at the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System, we provide safe, compassionate, quality care to every veteran that we serve. I hope anyone who thinks otherwise will speak up to help us improve. I want to know if anyone -of any race- feels unwelcome in our clinics.
Dr. King famously said: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
That brings to mind one more famous person who was born in 1929. Her name was Anne Frank. Children grow up reading her diary in school as they learn about the Holocaust, but like Dr. King, those children could have grown up hearing her speak her own words if not for the silence of others in the face of injustice.
This year as we honor Dr. King and all that he did, I want to encourage you all to find your voices. If you see people being treated unfairly, speak up!
Of the roughly 330 million Americans who are alive today, two thirds of them were born after the end of Federal Jim Crow laws in 1964. I know that for those younger people, it can seem as though the 1960’s was a time very far in the past. It may be unpleasant to think about, but segregated schools, buses, and movie theaters are not a distant reality. It was the recent past when a Black American could be denied entry to a country club or college based on the color of their skin, and that attitude of discrimination still manages to rear its ugly head from time to time. We must do everything we can to keep those attitudes out of health care or any public space, until someday we live in a world where no one thinks that way. Everyone deserves access to health care, and everyone deserves to be treated equally.
Dr. King loved this country. Not in an idyllic way where he glossed over its flaws, but in a real way where he wanted to make it better. Let us all take a moment this Martin Luther King Jr. Day to love America the way he did, with one eye towards what is good, and one eye towards what could be better. If we all work together as equals, we can create a more perfect union for the generations that follow us. Thank you all for the work you do every day towards a better world.
May you all be blessed as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
PACT Act Event
The PACT Act marks the largest and most significant expansion of veteran care and benefits in decades, empowering VA to deliver additional care and benefits to millions of veterans with toxic exposures and their survivors. This new law, passed in August of 2022, has already allowed hundreds of new veterans in the Pacific Islands to enroll for VA care. However, we don’t want to miss anybody. That’s why VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPIHCS) would like to invite you to a veteran’s Benefits Administration (VBA) event on Saturday, January 14, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Oahu Veterans Center, located at 1298 Kukila St. in Honolulu HI, 96818. This event will be a chance for veterans to meet with benefits counselors and discuss possible eligibility for new benefits under the PACT Act. If you have questions, please come, and talk with someone from VBA and get your questions answered. You can also always call 1-800-214-1306 and make an appointment.
Connected Care Website
At VAPIHCS we want to connect veterans with the best possible care, as close to their homes as possible. Last year, VA launched the Access to Care Website with the goal of helping veterans get the data they want to know about VA care. I encourage the veterans in our area to take advantage of this resource to help them make choices about their care.
In the new year, we’ll focus on both expanding Telehealth options and in-person options for care. We are also taking your feedback to heart. Please fill out surveys when they are sent to you to help us not only expand access to care but improve the quality of the care we deliver. We want to do everything we can to make it easy for veterans to #ChooseVA.
Preventing Veteran Suicide
In response to the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act designating the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the VA made accessing the Veterans Crisis Line more user-friendly. Veterans now have the option to Dial 988, then Press 1 to connect with caring, qualified responders for 24/7 crisis support.
Remember that you don’t have to be in crisis to seek mental health care. We have programs to help you improve your mental health, and you can take advantage of them at any time. Our Whole Health Program can help you evaluate what matters most to you and find VA programs that match with your needs. We can help you keep your new year’s resolutions like quitting smoking, to help improve your self-esteem. Talk to your Primary Care Doctor and see what options VA has that can help you improve your mental health and quality of life.
Leaving a Message for a Veteran
Phone etiquette is very important, and part of our job as health care workers is to protect each patients’ privacy. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) lays out rules that we must follow to ensure that no information about a patient is compromised, and this includes at their homes. Whether by mail or by phone, we must be careful what we disclose when not speaking directly to a veteran about their care.
Our Policy is to keep communications brief. Do not state the clinic and/or Department we are calling from or what clinic and/or Department their appointment is in. Instead, simply say that you are calling from the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System and leave a number where the veteran can return your call.
An acceptable message would be:
“This message is for John Smith. Please contact Allison Tanaka at VA Pacific Islands Health Care System at 808-433-3026 at your earliest convenience. Thank you.”
HIPAA allows the Medical Center to leave a message with a family member or other person who answers the phone when the patient is not home. However, you should not say more than where you are calling from, and how the veteran can call you back. Please be careful not to discuss anything about a patient with a family member or leave private information in a voice mail.
Thoughts From Chaplain Richie Charles
It was on August 28, 1963, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. The speech was delivered to an audience of approximately 250,000 people who came to Washington, D.C. to march for civil rights. But what few people know was that the entire speech was 17 minutes long, and the “I have a dream portion of the speech” was almost not delivered.
You see, as Dr. King was speaking to the massive audience, there was a brief silence in the speech. It was during that silence that gospel singer and good friend Mahalia Jackson called out to Dr. King and said, “tell them about the dream”. At that moment, Dr. King placed his notes aside, leaned into his lectern, and delivered that improvised portion of the speech. But that unplanned portion of the speech would ignite the hearts of many across the nation and would continue to echo down through the annuls of American history.
Most speakers would never dream of addressing an audience of that size without sticking to their notes, but I believe Dr. King was able to touch the hearts of countless Americans because the words he spoke came from his own heart.
In that part of the speech, he dreamed that “little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” This was a reality that was well beyond the imaginations of many that day, but Dr. King had a power of calling us to appeal to the higher principles of life, and to see in each other dignity, value, and worth.
Dr. King was able to effect change by appealing to one of the most powerful forces known to humanity– the power of love. As we celebrate the life of Dr. King, let’s honor his legacy by doing our part in making his dream a true reality.
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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