Director's Message March 17, 2023

However, did you know that VA is also a leader in education? Between March 13, and 17, 2023, VAPIHCS is celebrating Health Professionals Education Week. This is an opportunity to celebrate the health care professionals who are training with VAPIHCS now, those who did some part of their education with us, and those who participate in teaching and mentorship of trainees.

Nationally, an average of over 60% of medical professionals will do some part of their training through VA. This benefits our patients because physicians and nurses who train at VA get the chance to learn about chronic health conditions that are most common among veterans. When they learn at VA, they learn to recognize things like symptoms of toxic exposure, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and even conditions like plantar fasciitis – which are more common in people who have stood watch in armor or run often on pavement. Even if these medical professionals do not end up working for VA, they will take that knowledge out into the community, where it can be useful to veterans who get their care there.

Women’s Health

VAPIHCS has a wide variety of services for women veterans. We serve over 5,800 enrolled women veterans in our catchment area. These veterans are spread across the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

Women veterans have unique needs, and it’s important that we recognize this. As an example, women veterans may need support for birth control, infertility, and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment, disorders, and diseases more common in or specific to women, maternity, and menopause support. VA provides women health services within each Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) to address these needs.

To honor Women’s History Month, we want to ensure that women veterans know they are valued at VAPIHCS. If you are a woman veteran who has not yet enrolled for VA care, please come and talk to us. If you are enrolled in VA care already, talk to your doctor about women’s health services that you might benefit from. Serving women veterans is an important part of our mission.

PACT Act Enrollment Campaign

VAPIHCS has been working hard to enroll newly eligible veterans. The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins (PACT) Act was passed in August of 2022, and since that time, we’ve held PACT Act Community Calls throughout our coverage area to encourage veterans to come and speak with us, and learn what benefits they may be eligible for now.

As part of this ongoing effort, we will be holding a PACT Act Community Call in the island of Kauai on March 30-31, 2023. The event time has been extended and will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Kauai Veterans Center at 3215 Kauai Veterans Memorial Hwy, Lihue HI 96766. This event isn’t just for newly eligible veterans. Veterans who are already enrolled may also come for things like diabetic foot checks, blood pressure checks, vaccinations, and benefits questions.

Remember the PACT Act opens up new opportunities for people who may have been denied VA care in the past. If you have a history of toxic exposure during your military service, please come and talk to us. Let us determine what benefits and services you may be eligible for now.

Million Veteran Program (MVP)

In 2023, the Million Veteran Program (MVP) hopes to reach their goal of having one million veterans donate blood. These samples will be used for important medical research that will help current and future veterans in many different ways. Research from this program has already helped improve screening criteria that could save lives, and there is so much more that they will be able to do. I donated last year because I believe in the cause, and I hope you’ll consider signing up with them if you haven’t already. If you would like to donate to the MVP, please contact Sedra Graves at: 808-433-0125 or email at  sedra.graves@va.gov.

Thoughts from Chaplain Richie Charles

Back when sailing ships were reliant upon winds to be driven across the ocean, little could cause more dread for sailors than for their ocean vessels to get stuck in the ocean’s doldrums (the belt around the Earth near the equator where air circulates in an upward direction, providing little horizontal airflow to propel sailing ships along). Sailors would find themselves stuck in the ocean’s doldrums for days or even weeks, with a slowly depleting food and drinking water supply.

“Indecision” can be like doldrums. With no commitment made in a particular direction, indecision can leave us feeling stuck, drifting in one stage of our growth experience with little to no progress.

Making decisions helps chart our paths and craft our destinies. Yet, the sheer fact that choices have such power can prevent some from ever exercising this amazing human ability to its fullest extent.

Perhaps it’s the fear of regrets and making the wrong choice that keeps some in the doldrum of indecision, or the loss of control that comes from launching into the unknown. Perhaps we fear committing to a particular course of action, or maybe deep down, we’re unsure of what we want.

Regardless of what it might be, making decisions can help us courageously face the unknown, accepting what is, and is not within our control. Making decisions can help propel us to take on new challenges and assume new responsibilities, thereby experiencing new growth. Making decisions can help in our self-discovery, since the very process of trying new things will confirm or clarify what our likes and dislikes really are. So, let’s steer clear from prolonged indecision, and instead embrace and cultivate the power to make sound choices in a timely manner.

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

Website: hawaii.va.gov – submit your email to get our updates
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VAPacificIslands/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/va_pacific_islands/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PAOOffice1
Podcast: https://vapihcspao.podbean.com/