Director's Message June 21, 2024

Our previous sites of care were not built with space for a canteen, but the Akaka clinic follows a newer design model that integrates areas for Veterans to socialize when they come for appointments. Anyone can purchase food at the new café, which has a wonderful story behind it. 

Air Force spouse and co-owner of The Brew Café, Nicolette Bartolome, is excited to be serving the Veterans, their families, and VAPIHCS staff at the new clinic. Bartolome and her family run Lineage Coffee Company, which is an online store where people can purchase Kona Coffee from her family’s farm. The Company represents five generations of her family’s hard work and dedication to farming their land on the Big Island in Kona. Her family has handed down knowledge of the land, and how to care for the coffee plants. 

They always wanted a real, brick-and-mortar location, so they were excited when they were invited to bid on the contract for the Akaka clinic canteen. Since opening, they have featured a different special every week to keep things interesting, and they are excited as they see staff come in and get to know them. If you haven’t stopped in to talk to them yet, stop by and have a look around. 

June is Dementia Awareness Month

VA's Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program (IPVAP) supports Caregivers and Veterans in times when health conditions, such as dementia, negatively impact relationship health and safety. The IPVAP has developed resources and general information to guide staff on how to support Veterans and Caregivers when dementia causes distress and has a negative impact on the relationship. 

Dementia may impact communication, memory, reasoning, judgement, and problem-solving ability, which can make forming and maintaining healthy and safe relationships difficult. A person with dementia may have difficulties with the following: agitation, confusion, worry, fear, frustration, anxiety, or anger cursing, yelling, making threats, insults, or lashing out hitting, grabbing, kicking, or slapping.  

These types of behaviors can result in increased stress, isolation, and exhaustion for families and caregivers.  

The VA is committed to providing support to Veterans and Caregivers whose relationship health and safety is impacted by dementia. The health care setting plays a vital role in helping Caregivers and Veterans learn ways to de-escalate in times of stress. The IPVAP provides education, support, and resources that can assist Caregivers to manage stressful situations related to dementia and IPV.

For more information, visit the VHA IPVAP website, or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233. 

Thoughts from Chaplain Jewel Davis
The earth below. The sky above. 

Hisham Matar says, “All great art allows us this: a glimpse across the limits of ourselves.” 

Within the masterpiece of this universal canopy, creation’s orchestra plays a harmonious symphony comprised of all existence. From the scuttle of the tiniest insect, to the flap of the largest Aves, and everything in between, life extends its invitation to “come, make music with me.” The sounds of winds sighing and leaves rustling. Of water droplets drip, drip, dripping, and waterfalls splashing. Of rivers trickling, brooks babbling, and ocean waves crashing. Wind and water, symbols of the ebb and flow and the shifting trajectories of life’s movements – sing.

Bees buzz and bats squeak. Birds tweet, ducks quack, owls hoot, and ravens caw. Frogs ribbit, toads trill, and dolphins squeal. Chickens cluck, roosters crow, coyotes howl, snakes hiss, cats meow, dogs bark, cicadas join the chorus while lions roar, Tasmanian devils scream, and hyenas, well, they just laugh.

Voices elevated, people engaging with activities and conversations all around. A mosaic of sounds and characteristics distinct, yet common, that connects us to others both near and far. And high above all of earth’s inhabitants, a fiery sun brightens each day; its fervor intense and warming in concert with the moon and stars that light up the night. And it matters not, if in the North, South, East, or West. The same sky covers every orientation.

So, as we attune our ears to nature’s serenade that welcomes us as part of creation, may we also remember that we are all members of a global orchestra that is in symphonic harmony beneath the universal expanse of the sky above. May we hear, may we listen, may we embrace everyone’s significance. 

I close with this quote from Queen Rania Al Abdullah, “We are stronger when we listen and smarter when we share.” 

Blessings and Mahalo.

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