Director's Message May 3, 2024

. Many of the Veterans in our coverage area are Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, or from other Asian Ancestry. Many are Native Hawaiian, Chamorro, American Samoan, or other Pacific Islander heritage. Our coverage area is unique because it is made of so many beautiful cultures that are blended to make a symphony of foods, ideas, and traditions. I am so proud to honor the cultures that comprise this rich and diverse group of islands.

In VAPIHCS, we see diversity everywhere from the clinic, to the classroom, to the beach. Here in the Pacific Islands, we set an example of tolerance, respect for others, and understanding. Let us never forget that and remember that everyone is welcome at VAPIHCS. We celebrate people from all cultures and walks of life, because we serve all who served. Happy Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander month! 

Nurses Month

In May, VAPIHCS is also proud to celebrate our nurses. The rest of the medical community celebrates nurse’s throughout the week, but we celebrate nurses all month because of the meaningful and impactful affect they have on patient care. Here at VAPIHCS, it’s our privilege to ensure that all Veterans get safe, compassionate, quality care. Each of our nurses is critically important to our success in providing the care that we do, and we thank them all for their hard work and dedication to excellence. 

Nurses work in diverse positions, with many nurses specializing in a specific field, which requires extra education and commitment. Regardless of specialty, nurses are the embodiment of our ICARE values: they strive for Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence in all that they do. Take a moment to thank your nurse for the outstanding care they provide. Mahalo to our nurses!

Thoughts from Chaplain Jewel Davis

NASA discontinued its space shuttle missions in 2011. But during its heydays, the mission’s launches grabbed the attention of millions of spectators. When the space shuttle lifts from Earth, it is buttressed by an external tank that has two solid rocket boosters, one on each side, attached to it.  This external tank stores over half a million gallons of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to fuel the space shuttles main engines. The solid rocket boosters provide the force needed to thrust the space shuttle through Earth’s gravitational pull. 

After liftoff and approximately two minutes into the space shuttle’s ascent, the solid rocket boosters, having expended all their fuel, detach, and fall into the ocean – from where they are retrieved to be refurbished and reused. The space shuttle, using its main engines, continues to ascend until it reaches orbit. At this stage, the main engines shut down and the external tank detaches. But unlike the solid rocket boosters that fall into the ocean, the external tank disintegrates when it enters Earth’s atmosphere. So now, free of the solid rocket boosters and the external tank, and with its main engines turned off, the space shuttle continues to coast along a vertical trajectory until it reaches a point where it pivots from a vertical to a horizontal flight position to begin circumnavigating the earth.

Note that each phase of a space shuttle’s launch is critical to the success of its mission. 

Similarly, every stage and phase of our lives is significant to our vision, our goals, and our successes. Perhaps we’ve launched from firm foundations that have provided security and support and have been the catalysts that propelled us forward and upward.  Yet to persist in our ascent, it is a matter of releasing that which has fulfilled its objective to lift and carry us to where we can purposefully, courageously, and confidently continue to rise.  It is also the buoyance of getting ready, set, and letting go of those things that don’t benefit our efforts or meet our needs, such as doubt and negative self-talk that weighs us down and impedes our growth and progress. So today, may we enjoy the journey of rising to our greatest potentials as we pursue our deepest aspirations.  

And for everything that tries to hold us back, Taylor Swift put it quite simply to just, “Shake it off!”

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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