Kaheleaulani

The final wishes of Lucy Kalanikumaikiekie Davis Henriques and Lucy Kahiehie Peabody will be honored next week, with the blessing and open house of Kaheleaulani, a Native Hawaiian health program at North Hawaii Community Hospital.

The two Native Hawaiian women, born in the late 1800s, were cousins who shared a dream to build a medical facility in Waimea. When Peabody died in 1928, she left a 12-acre parcel in Waimea to Henriques. This land, Makahikilua, is where the hospital now stands. Upon her death in 1932, Henriques left the land and $100,000 in her will “to erect a sanitarium at Makahikilua, giving special preference to the children and descendants of the old families of Waimea, Hawaii and (it) shall be maintained for the public benefit.”

The public blessing, occurring 9 a.m. Aug. 31, marks the new name and space. Kaheleaulani was most likely a name within Henriques’ family and refers to the procession of the alii and the accompanying adornment.

“Lucy Kalanikumaikiekie Davis Henriques expressed such compassion for the people of North Hawaii, and we are proud to honor her through the naming of our Native Hawaiian health program,” Dr. Claren Kuulei Kealoha-Beaudet said. “The blessing will capture the exciting rebirth of her legacy and North Hawaii Community Hospital.”

Kaheleaulani, formerly called the Native Hawaiian Health Clinic, opened Sept. 1, 2011. It’s tasked with providing culturally appropriate, high-quality medical and behavioral health services at a reasonable cost for Native Hawaiians and their ohana, said Kealoha-Beaudet, clinical psychologist and Kaheleaulani behavioral services director.

Services include primary care for ages 13 and up, preventive medicine, women’s health, family planning, patient education, psychosocial support, marriage and family therapy counseling, behavioral change promotion and maintenance, and physicals for sports and work.

Focusing on spiritual and interpersonal concerns, complaints and causes, professionals help identify health disparities and formulate an individualized action plan for rectifying those problems. The plan encourages patients and their families to become involved in their own health care choices and promotes self-determination. Participants are medically monitored for two years, and the goal is for them to lead healthier lives, Kealoha-Beaudet said.

The vision is for “a vibrant, interdependent Native Hawaiian community based on cultural values with individuals achieving their optimal spiritual, mental and physical potential,” she added.

Kaheleaulani’s staff consists of a medical director, one behavioral services director who is also a clinical psychologist, another clinical psychologist, a family nurse practitioner, one patient care coordinator/case manager and a grant administrator, said Krista Anderson, the hospital’s spokeswoman.

Within three months of opening, the maximum patient capacity of 800 was reached. During the past year, North Hawaii Community Hospital has spent approximately $120,000 renovating its facility to accommodate the program. Instead of four outpatient spaces, Kaheleaulani now has 11 such spaces. It transformed six unused staff offices to create the spaces, allowing the program to expand to 1,500 patients, Kealoha-Beaudet said.

A roughly $60,000 Hawaii County Shippers’ Wharf Committee Trust grant helped pay for the renovations. Private donations were also made toward the build-out, she said.

Kaheleaulani is accepting patients with a target population of Hawaiians ages 13 and older, non-Native Hawaiians who are married to a Native Hawaiian or life partner of a Native Hawaiian, non-Native Hawaiians widows and widowers whose spouses were Native Hawaiian, and non-Native Hawaiians who are divorced or separated from a Native Hawaiian and have Native Hawaiian children.

North Hawaii Community Hospital received a community grant of more than $240,000 from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to provide direct service in the community through its Hoomalule Project.

Beginning Sept. 7, the project strives to help 100 people with diabetes, hypertension, obesity, depression and chronic disease.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 881-4843.