Pop-up clinic treats roughly 100 Hurricane Lala survivors in Naalehu
NĀʻĀLEHU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) — A pop-up medical clinic at Nāʻālehu Elementary’s gymnasium treated roughly 100 hurricane survivors following Hurricane Lala.
Clinic formed in partnership with county
Dr. Kā’ohimanu Dang Akiona, a family medicine physician and owner of Kohala Coast Urgent Care, said the clinic came together quickly in partnership with the county.
“We just pulled together like a clinic,” Dang Akiona said. “I had some experience doing that. We were able to provide full spectrum family medicine urgent care in a community setting. We were able to provide gap coverage. People lost access to their normal clinics.”
Dang Akiona said the clinic initially treated a lot of puncture wounds.
“We were worried about skin infections. So we were doing a lot of like wound care,” Dang Akiona said.
The state Department of Health was also at the clinic to care for patients’ mental health.
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Some residents hesitant to seek care
Dang Akiona said many residents in isolated communities are used to taking care of themselves, so some had to be urged to be seen by medical professionals.
She said the need shows gaps in rural medical care.
“Basic baseline, access to care is awful across the state, but it’s particularly difficult on the Big Island because we’re literally the biggest island,” Dang Akiona said. “So we’re seeing people just have a more difficult time accessing their clinics.”
Dang Akiona said she sees a silver lining in the response.
“I think it was uplifting for us because it really showed us that we need to be responding as intensely as they are,” Dang Akiona said.
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