Ohana Pacific Health and Post-Acute Care

By Natalie Kekuewa

I am privileged to be a part of Ohana Pacific Health (OPH), a locally owned healthcare organization with care communities spanning all four major Hawaiian Islands.

Ohana Pacific Health’s skilled nursing communities on the island of Kauai — Garden Isle and Hale Kupuna Heritage Home — are responsible for serving approximately 80% of Kauai’s postacute care needs. With convenient locations, outstanding therapy services, and competent nursing care, OPH has developed dynamic, comprehensive care to help meet the needs in our beautiful Garden Island.

Many of our experienced leaders at Ohana Pacific Health have been serving our kupuna for decades. They have seen healthcare throughout the state of Hawaii experience ups and downs.

Most recently, the impact the COVID-19 epidemic had on healthcare

— and more specifically on healthcare staffing — left many experts in awe. Our leaders at OPH — seasoned and resilient — have responded in multiple, meaningful ways.

For example, they have partnered with Kauai High School and the Healthcare Association of Hawaii to create an allexpense-paid Certified Nursing Aide course for students interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. The students meet on the Kauai High School campus twice a week for four months. To pass the Certified Nursing Aide course, students are required to participate in the real-life, hands-on setting at Hale Kupuna Heritage Home, where they gain valuable experience providing care to residents and patients.

After successful completion of the Certified Nursing Aide course, students are eligible for immediate hire at our Hale Kupuna Heritage Home and

Garden Isle Rehab & Nursing Center, where they can smoothly transition into the workplace environment and start a career in one of the noblest professions.

With Ohana Pacific Health’s orientation process, these young new members of our community workforce are set up to succeed. Students who excel within the company could be eligible to participate in one of OPH’s “investment” opportunities: at no cost to these individuals, they can be a part of the CNA-to-LPN bridge program.

Ohana Pacific Health and UH Maui have partnered to create this first-ofits-kind program that allows CNAs exclusive to OPH the privilege and convenience of being part of this promising career opportunity.

The healthcare staffing crisis is not unique to in Hawaii; it is nationwide. As part of another exciting Ohana Pacific Health initiative, we are working with the United States Department of Immigration to recruit healthcare workers from the Philippines to work for OPH. We presented our current team members the opportunity to invite eligible family members and friends who are nurses and CNAs in the Philippines to participate in this initiative. Their eligibility is reviewed and they go through a job interview. If selected, they are then guided through the immigration process, for the opportunity to come to Hawaii to live and work as a CNA or nurse for Ohana Pacific Health. We boast a supportive training environment, a teamwork-centric approach, and Ohana-like relationships among staff members. We are one Ohana: united with a strong commitment to a common goal of caring for kupuna!

If you are interested in a healthcare career with Ohana Pacific Health, visit our website at www.ohanapacific.com/careers. We would love to grow our Ohana with you.