Hirono Visits Federally-Funded Physician Training Program at Kapiolani Medical Center

Senator Mazie K. Hirono toured the existing and new neonatal intensive care unit and pediatric intensive care unit at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, and met with Hawaii Pacific Health Chief Executive Officer and President Ray Vara, Kapiolani Chief Executive Officer Martha Smith, and Kapiolani Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kenneth Nakamura regarding Hawaii’s health care system and competitive federal funding the hospital recently received to grow its physician training program.

“As Hawaii faces a chronic physician shortage, federal investment in medical resident teaching programs like Kapiolani Medical Center’s are vital to growing our state’s physician pipeline,” said Senator Hirono. “Physicians who train in Hawaii are more likely to build careers here, and I am committed to expanding resources to allow Kapiolani and other Hawaii hospitals to expand their ability to treat more patients here at home.”

“As one of 54 US hospitals that participate in the CHGME program, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children is proud to be able to contribute to the graduate medical education of future pediatricians and obstetricians, most of whom end up practicing in Hawaii,” said Martha Smith, Kapiolani Medical Center Chief Executive Officer. “CHGME funding also enables our care for underserved women and children, a critically important attribute given our geographic isolation and the need to serve the broader community of the Pacific.”

In 2016, Kapiolani Medical Center received nearly $4 million in competitive funding through the Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) program to bolster its physician training program. In March, Senator Hirono urged Senate leadership to continue to fund CHGME and other programs that address funding gaps in pediatric medicine.