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Someone made the following comment on another thread:
Quote:
Hawaii is great if you're rich though... as long as you can deal with bad schools and poor medical care which being rich won't save you from.
I inquired what they meant but so far no response so I thought I'd ask out in the open:
In Honolulu, where my wife & I plan to move, is there a problem with the quality of the medical services being delivered, even though Honolulu has two major hospitals and even though many of the residents are wealthy?
Someone made the following comment on another thread:
I inquired what they meant but so far no response so I thought I'd ask out in the open:
In Honolulu, where my wife & I plan to move, is there a problem with the quality of the medical services being delivered, even though Honolulu has two major hospitals and even though many of the residents are wealthy?
I think the biggest issue is the number of physicians in private practice who are accepting new patients, and who will accept YOUR insurance is low. It's just hard to find doctors, particularly specialists here.
the outer islands do not always have doctors at all that specialize in anything other than general med. there is an extreme lack of hearts doctors and other specialties. we also lack the hospitals with the right equipment to treat these concerns. you have a major medical problem you are shipped to oahu to be taken care of.
Being on islands, with a limited amount of population to service (make money from) is one of the biggest issues - and that can't be helped.
It isn't that many of the residents are wealthy - just because the median housing price is so high doesn't mean that people are wealthy.
Why would a specialist want to come here and only work part-time when they can work in a major mainland city and make the really big money?
I'll add that here on the Big Island, a lot of people go to Oahu for routine medical visits, which is why the high cost of inter-island travel right now is problematic for so many.
Still others make trips to the mainland to see the physicians and dentists they were accustomed to seeing there. I'm heading back to Texas in the spring to try to resolve an issue with a dental implant. It sucks to have to do that, but I haven't found a good option locally.
Being on islands, with a limited amount of population to service (make money from) is one of the biggest issues - and that can't be helped.
It isn't that many of the residents are wealthy - just because the median housing price is so high doesn't mean that people are wealthy.
Why would a specialist want to come here and only work part-time when they can work in a major mainland city and make the really big money?
I can understand that those living on outlying islands, particularly the Big Isle, have a problem with getting quality care (if any care is available at all!); that's the price one pays for the solitude/isolation. But I cannot understand how Honolulu, a major metropolis of nearly one million people and not one, but TWO major hospitals, has a problem luring physicians, especially with an above-average number of well-off retirees and an environment to kill for.
Is this going to be a major problem for residents down the road? Will good medical care become so scarce, even in Honolulu, that an older person on Medicare who needs a good facility with quality physicians and state-of-the-art equipment will seriously have to consider returning to the mainland to get it?
I don't think the health care system is poor at all. Generations of my family have received their health care on Oahu and have not had any issues with it. We have our internal medicine doctors, heart specialists, obgyn, pediatricians, dentists, eye doctors, etc. It takes me about the same time to get an appointment there, and in many cases, even less time, than it takes me here on the mainland. UH has a great medical school that is continually attracting high quality students back to the island. Sure there are always rare medical issues that world renowned specialists back on the mainland are more qualified to take care of, but for your everyday health problems, health care on Oahu is more than sufficient. I'm not sure where all this concern is coming from.
And the good thing about Honolulu is that many health care offices/facilities are located next to public bus stops so the older and disabled populations that rely on that health care can access it easily.
Honolulu may have great care and ease of access to specialists, etc. The outer islands don't.
If I or my family need anything more than general practice, we know that our insurance (HMSA plan) will pay for us to go on a trip to Honolulu. They will pay for a spouse or parent if that's the case, and provide lodging at a hotel if overnight stays are required.
Choosing an outer island for retirement, if you are not in really good health, doesn't make a lot of sense.
Well, I'm glad to hear the care in Honolulu is good after all. I'm sorry to hear about poorer service on the outer isles, though given the proximities, it doesn't surprise me. And you're right: if older people with health issues want to live in Hawaii it's suicide to choose a more isolated member of the group to live. Thanks to all for your views/contributions.
And you're right: if older people with health issues want to live in Hawaii it's suicide to choose a more isolated member of the group to live.
I wouldn't go that far. It's just not as easy to find a good personal physician on the BI as Oahu.
But that misses the point that my health has improved significantly since I moved here. Several chronic issues just fell away as I settled into a low stress lifestyle, got more excercise, began to eat better with lots of inexpensive fresh local produce available.
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