Director's Message January 31, 2025
As our nation transitions to a new administration, I want to reassure you that your VA health care remains unchanged. Regardless of leadership shifts, our mission stays the same to provide you with the safe, compassionate, and quality care you have earned through your service.
Your access to VA clinics, prescriptions, and specialized programs will continue without interruption. We remain committed to serving you with integrity, compassion, advocacy, respect, and excellence. If you have any concerns or questions, contact us at 1-800-214-1306 or visit VA.gov for the latest updates. Thank you for your service and trust in us.
Volunteer at the CLC Garden
The VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPIHCS) is proud to provide a comfortable and supportive retirement and rehabilitation space through our Community Living Center (CLC). CLC Resident Council President Jesse Sotelo has spearheaded a project to transform land behind the facility into a vibrant community garden.
This garden offers multiple benefits: it encourages residents to spend time outdoors, provides fresh produce, and enhances the overall beauty of the grounds. For those not employed by VAPIHCS, there are two ways to support this meaningful initiative:
- Become an Official VA Volunteer
- Volunteer with the Hawaii Red Cross
Join the garden project by becoming a VA volunteer through the VAPIHCS Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE). To get started, contact CDCE Chief Schoen Safotu at Schoen.Safotu@va.gov.
The Hawaii Red Cross organizes monthly volunteer days at the CLC garden. If you’d like to participate, contact Julie Greenly at Julie.Greenly@redcross.org.
Your time and effort can make a lasting difference for the residents of the CLC.
Upcoming Events
There will be a PACT Act Community Call tomorrow, February 1, 2025, from 8 am to 3 pm, at 73-5618 Maiau Street, Center Suite 200, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740. This is a multi-service event to enroll Veterans, provide services, and answer questions. To learn more, call 1-800-214-1306.
There will be an Ohana Open Market event from 10 am to Noon on February 7, 2025, at the Daniel K. Akaka VA Clinic, 91-1051 Franklin D. Roosevelt Ave, Kapolei HI 96707. This event is an opportunity for active-duty military and Veterans to pick up cost-free groceries. There will also be an information fair with VAPIHCS personnel on stand-by to answer Veteran questions. For more information, contact Center for Development and Civic Engagement Chief Schoen Safotu at Schoen.Safotu@va.gov.
Blast Exposure and Veteran Health
VA has launched a new outreach campaign to encourage all eligible Veterans to enroll in VA health care. This includes approximately 11,910 unenrolled Veterans in Hawaii who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
This campaign follows growing reports of health concerns among Veterans, including mental health challenges and thoughts of suicide, potentially linked to repeated blast and head trauma. These traumas include exposure to low-level artillery blasts, IEDs, missile launches, heavy fire, and more.
VA researchers are urgently studying the potential health impacts of blast exposure on Veterans. In the meantime, we strongly encourage all eligible Veterans to enroll in VA health care. Veterans who use VA health services report better health outcomes, and VA hospitals are consistently rated higher than non-VA facilities in performance. Additionally, 92% of Veteran patients report trusting VA outpatient care – an all-time high.
Please help us spread the word and encourage Veterans to enroll in VA health care. It is our honor to serve those who have served.
Thoughts from Chaplain Richie Charles
There was once a farmer who grew excellent quality corn, and every year he won the award for growing the best corn in town. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and discovered the secret of how he managed to consistently grow the best corn, year after year. After questioning him, to his surprise, the reporter made a startling discovery. He discovered that the real reason why the farmer was able to grow the best corn was because the farmer shared his best corn seeds with his neighbors!
“How can you afford to share your best corn seeds with your neighbors when your neighbors are competing with you each year?” asked the reporter.
“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Don’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it around from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must also help my neighbors grow good corn.”
The farmer’s insight was far-reaching enough for him to realize that his success was bound up in the success of those around him. If his neighbors’ fields grew poor quality corn, then that would eventually affect his own field as well. Although they worked in different fields, what happened in one area would eventually affect his area.
The farmer reminds us that despite the fact that we all work in different “fields”, with different roles, we are all still one team, one VAPIHCS ʻohana. What happens to one, always has an impact on the whole. Let’s determine to share our best “seeds” with those around us, remembering that true success is seen not only in being great ourselves, but also in making those around us better.
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
Stay Informed
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