4 Maui County Health Centers Receive Funds for IT Enhancements

Community Clinic of Maui, photo by Wendy Osher.

Fourteen Hawaiʻi Health Centers are receiving funding from the US Department of Health and Human Services for information technology enhancements, including four recipients in Maui County.

The funding includes more than $52,000 for the Community Clinic of Maui in Wailuku; and around $42,000 each for the Hāna Community Health Center, the Lānaʻi Community Health Center and Molokaʻi ʻOhana Health Care.

The funds will support health information technology enhancements to accelerate health centers’ transition to value-based models of care and increase engagement in delivery system transformation.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) made the funding announcement today, saying the 14 centers will receive a total of $753,064. The funding is part of more than $87 million provided by HHS to 1,310 health centers in every US state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Basin.

According to Rep. Gabbard, this is the first significant investment directly awarded to health centers to support the purchase of health IT since 2009.

“Health centers across Hawaiʻi provide high-quality health and wellness services that our communities depend upon. Yet, in Hawaiʻi and in states across the country, remote locations, lack of funding, and staff shortages make it difficult to keep up with rapidly changing healthcare technology,” said Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

“Investing in our local health centers will increase information sharing, improve electronic healthcare record systems, and expand access to comprehensive, quality care for people in every county across the state,” she said.

The following organizations are the Hawaiʻi recipients of the HHS health IT enhancement funds:

· Hilo – $66,682 for the Bay Clinic
· Wailuku – $52,900 for the Community Clinic of Maui
· Honokaʻa – $46,535 for the Hamakua Health Center
· Hāna – $42,428 for the Hana Community Health Center
· Līhuʻe – $46,320 for Hoʻola Lahui Hawaiʻi
· Honolulu – $73,739 for the Kalihi-Palama Health Center
· Honolulu – $54,075 for Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services
· Kahuku – $48,198 for the Koʻolauloa Community Health and Wellness Center
· Lānaʻi City – $41,749 for the Lanaʻi Community Health Center
· Kaunakakai – $42,884 for Molokaʻi Ohana Health Care
· Waiʻanae – $81,237 for the Waiʻanae District Comprehensive Health and Hospital Board
· Honolulu – $55,087 for the Waikiki Health Center
· Waimānalo – $46,056 for the Waimānalo Health Center
· Kailua-Kona – $55,174 for the West Hawaiʻi Community Health Center