 is Think Tech Hawaii. Community matters here. Aloha and welcome to Out and About on Think Tech live streaming network series broadcasting from our downtown studio, Pioneer Plaza at the core here in Honolulu. I'm your host Winston Welch and I am delighted that you're joining us today where we explore a variety of topics, organizations, events and the people who fuel them in our city, state, country and world. As a disclaimer, any views or opinions expressed by me are strictly my own and not connected with any organization I may be affiliated with. Joining me in the studio today I am delighted to have Phyllis Dendall who is the board chair of marketing and development of Waikiki Health and today we're going to talk about Waikiki Health and it's over 50 years of service to the community and Vital Services indeed it provides lots of programs that it offers in medical care, preventative care and social services so with that I would like to welcome you to our show today Phyllis. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for being here. Yes, so you're volunteering with this tremendous organization that has a really fundamental impact in our society really here on the islands it's functioning as a basic safety net. We are we are it's we we have been here for 50 years we started as Waikiki drug clinic in 1967 and have since grown to an organization with six locations throughout Oahu providing clinical services and providing services to homeless folks. I started with the board in 2008 right after our executive director Sheila Beckham came on board. Okay. So I've been there for lots of the changes we've had in the last nine years. Okay, so it's almost been 10 years you've been serving on the board. Okay and you've seen this program like the Waikiki Health expand and change in many ways. What would you say are the biggest changes that you've seen? Well we've probably doubled the number of locations that we provide services. We have expanded the population we provide services to. We are while we are Waikiki Health we are not strictly located in Waikiki. We provide services to the broader community on Oahu and we have as a as a federally qualified community health center which is a federal designation for health centers. FQHC is the is the shorthand for it. We are the safety net. We provide services to people regardless of their ability to pay. Any insurance you know no insurance it doesn't make any difference. If you show up at our door we provide care and that's really essential in this community because the only other place you can do that is an emergency room at a hospital and that's that's not the best place to get primary care and it's certainly not the place to get behavioral health or any of the kinds of services that folks need just generally in like you and I would need in regular life so. Wow so this the federally qualified health center designation are there a lot of different agencies on this island that have that there are there are several we're fortunate that we have a number of community health centers located throughout Oahu and on the neighbor islands that are federally qualified health centers this provides us access to some federal funding because we are as I said the safety net the the place that takes everybody regardless of their ability to pay. Our patient population mix the the number of patients that are there or sort of where our patients come from over half our Medicaid patients covered by our Medicaid program in the state of Hawaii but about 20 percent of our patients are uninsured I think I think it's 17 percent of our patients are uninsured which means they just walk in off the street with with nothing and we it's our job to make sure that they get the health care that they need and it's our privilege to make sure they get the health care that they need. Yes thank you for saying that because I think in this day and age we've been almost taught to well a percentage of the population might might believe that health care is a privilege and not a right and when we realize that poor health affects all of us fundamentally I mean at the individual certainly is impacted the the greatest when he or she cannot receive base even basic basic care and then though of course we get a lot of side effects out of that in society that we that we can easily see so I don't I didn't I don't know that most people realize that there was any alternative where they could can walk in and say they don't have insurance because for whatever reason they don't have insurance and certainly cost would be one of those and I read something recently that 40% of people working on this island are working for minimum wage so you can do the math and that save let's just run up to $10 an hour you're working 40 hours a week that's 1600 or so maybe 1800 a month and government's still going to take out a little bit of that and your average rent for a two bedroom apartments probably 2400 so even if you have two full-time jobs and you got a couple kids you know houses it's not the math doesn't work out no it doesn't yeah it doesn't I want to I want to sort of talk about the other side of this as well though in that the health care that we provide through Waikiki health Waikiki health at our Hua clinic and at the Makahiki clinic in Makali Moiliili is is excellent health care this is not second second quality health care in any way the remainder of our patient load are folks with insurance and you got to remember the folks with Medicaid basically have insurance yes lots of the folks choose to come to our clinic because it's conveniently located we have good hours we are small and friendly it is in everywhere as fine a medical clinic as you would find in any of the other clinics throughout the state any of the other larger hospitals that have clinics it's the same kind of clinic setting so I don't want to leave the impression that we only serve right folks that are under privilege we don't we have a number of patients and a pretty good percentage of our patients that come because they want to be there because we provide good care right and you and for the that your your two main offices the Makahiki clinic is in Moiliili Makali area and then the other one is the Ohua clinic which is sort of in the original location pretty close pretty close to the original location we've had a couple of locations on Ohua you know because when we started out we were in spaces that we could were either donated or we got at a very reasonable rate Ohua is right next to Waikiki community center where we're like back to back there so that's an easy spot to to find us it's a it's a nice central location for folks that live in Waikiki and work in Waikiki that's the other thing is that if you work in Waikiki and you want to schedule a doctor's appointment we are a great choice to get your your basic primary medical care behavioral health we have a pharmacy in both of those locations you could get your pharmacy items filled there the whole the whole point is we're very convenient not only for the folks who live there but work there in Waikiki and so we're eager to to be seen as a a a a convenient location for folks a neighborhood clinic exactly yes and it just so happens that you are able to be provide sort of a one-stop shopping for a lot of things so you have x-ray machines and we did ultrasounds and is there an MRI down there I don't think so that's pretty big that's a big hospital I would take quite a bit of space yeah I don't think we have that no no I don't think so but for the rest of it just coming in and getting your flu shot and absolutely so what are there are there other services that are offered at Ahua clinic because I'm seeing some of these down here so you can you go there for dental care in your eyes well we we have a dental we have full service dental at our Makahiki clinic which is about actually about maybe three blocks from the University of Hawaii so we're pretty centrally located for that part of the map on this one so we can see okay great that's great so when this one comes up so the Makahiki clinics about three blocks I was gonna say three three or four blocks from the University close it's close okay and we're on the we're on the the route for the University bus so it's it's a it's a convenient location for that community as well but we have a dental an entire floor of dental services there um it's a it's a relatively new service for us even though it's required by the federal government we we provide uh we've we've only had this for a few years um it is a challenge for us because as we said earlier um over half our patients our Medicaid patients and dental care for adults is not covered by Medicaid right and I bring that up because we bring it up at the state legislature every year we need to remind folks that dental health is every bit as important as any other kind of health care and so that's apologies but I just have to get the plug in there that we need we need to pay attention to providing um as a state appropriate dental care for our adults they there is some coverage under Medicaid for children but there's nothing for adults and um it's expensive but it's not as expensive as the alternative uh in terms of bad health and so yeah let me just put that plug out there that folks need to remember that you know when we when we come to the legislature and ask them to consider funding dental care it really is it really is intended to to make the to fill that real and genuine need for adults on Medicaid but I think when we don't do that it it ends up being Pennywise and pound foolish I I'm afraid so and it's the same with I think basic primary care that when people aren't getting their high blood pressure or their diabetes or whatever it is even basic mental health care or or contraception if they need contraception then later on we have other issues that come down the road where we show up at the emergency room because we have an abscess in our tooth or um you know some other part of us that's our sugars are out of whack or whatever and then we end up costing a fortune by going to the emergency room when in fact it could just be headed off at the pass and provide people with compassionate quality care from the start exactly that's exactly what we're aiming for that's really our desire um you know emergency rooms are exactly that their emergency locations are the places we go when catastrophe has happened it's not the right place to go for an ongoing or chronic illness that needs to be managed in a clinic setting and so um I I encourage folks who have not sought out a clinic to find one of the community house centers in their community if it's if it's you know Waikiki or town we you know we are very convenient but if it's not there's others located throughout the state so um I really encourage folks to consider getting their health care stop in just stop in and have a have a look stop in and say hello and see what's there for you it's cheerful nice people clean you know we absolutely absolutely it's the folks that do this don't do this uh to get rich we do this because this is this is what's important to us health you know having our community healthy is important to us and that's why I sit on the board it's why our doctors provide the services that they provide well actually I would love to talk about that more about some of the specific services that are provided and maybe some specific examples of what's maybe some patient that you that you've known or helped and why you actually do sit on the board because you've got a lot of choices where you're able to spend your time and considerable you know brainpower and charm after that we'll just take a break for a moment and then we'll come back and address some of those topics and okay I'm Winston Welch I am on out and about Think Tech Live series network and I am talking right now with Phyllis Dendell of Waikiki Health and we'll be back in a minute this is Think Tech Hawaii raising public awareness Aloha I'm Vic Kraft the volunteer host of It Never Got Quiet Think Tech is important to me because we can bring the issue of Hawaiian veterans of the Vietnam War to the community and tell their story for the first time Think Tech Hawaii is participating in an online web-based fundraising campaign to raise forty thousand dollars give thanks to Think Tech will run only during the month of November and you can help please donate what you can so that Think Tech Hawaii continue to raise public awareness and promote civic engagement through free programming like mine I've already made my donation and look forward to yours please send in your tax deductible contribution by going to this website www thanks for think tech dot cause box dot com on behalf of the community enriched by Think Tech Hawaii's 30 plus weekly shows Mahalo we're back and we're live I'm Winston Welch and this is out and about on Think Tech Live streaming network series and today we're talking with Phyllis Dendell board chair of marketing and development of Waikiki Health about vital programs and services that it has been offering for over 50 years so thank you for being here today Phyllis it's pleasure to have you my pleasure I was so we've been talking about Waikiki Health and how it started originally as a kind of a drug clinic and to help people that were dealing with those issues and it's morphed into a complete comprehensive care facility that that addresses all kinds of needs you have two major clinics the Makahiki clinic close to UH so I imagine you see probably a few more students there maybe not or it's a mix it's a mix from the community because it's a pretty big mix of the I mean the community is a pretty mixed group so and then the one in Waikiki and as we were saying that it's a really actually you think about Waikiki there are almost no other there's no clinics per se there I mean there's some individual doctor's offices and something but not something like this and I've been down to the clinic it's a very pleasant setting low rise there's a farmers market next door you can get a lot of things done down there but so you've got some other things here which are more of an outreach nature instead of people coming to you you're going to them or you're they're not located in Waikiki so tell us about probably the biggest one that we would hear about would be the the next step shelter I think that's right the next step shelter in Kakako we we took over the management of that it had been in existence for a couple of years and then we took over the management of it it provides shelter to people without homes individuals and couples and it's a it's intended to be a short term homeless shelter with the intent of finding people permanent housing that's our program and we provide a variety of services there to assist people you know when you're that far sort of out of it you can't manage to manage housing there's usually other problems that we can help with as well so we're very we're very pleased to to have to be able to provide those services at the next step shelter homeless programs have been an important part of our work for probably half of the life of the the health center we've been providing homeless services besides the next step shelter which is an actual shelter we also have the caravan which is another medical facility in Kaimuki but it's also a mobile medical clinic that we send out around the island to various locations to provide outreach to folks who are homeless or are in places without easy medical care we try to get out to where they are and bring them what care we can through our mobile medical clinic is that does that go outside of the urban core itself it does it does I can't tell you the locations I don't remember but the but the idea is yeah that we are we are going to where folks are where we know that folks are congregating and where we can you know hopefully provide them um some direct services where they are you understand that that for some of our our friends that are homeless that mental health issues are a problem so we want to be thoughtful about being able to provide services you know in our center for folks with behavioral health but also recognizing that some of the folks that we have to meet in the community that are homeless you know may have mental health issues also and for those folks we have to meet them where they are and provide them what we can we have sort of a similar attitude about our youth outreach youth outreach is specifically for young people 14 to 21 it's a drop-in center for young people that are homeless or are at risk we provide them uh something to eat we provide them a place to get cleaned up to wash their clothes we have a an on-site medical professional that can provide them advice and some basic services but we we do this in a very non-judgmental way it's not our job to police these kids we're just providing them a locate a safe location to get some of the assistance that they need for some of them if we can we will get them into GED programs to help them become more employable so they can get off the street so they can take care of themselves but this is um this is actually how I got involved in this was through youth outreach is uh well they the I I had formerly worked for Kaiser Permanente as their director of government relations and um Waikiki health was looking to make a change in the laws to permit homeless youth to get medical care without parental consent yeah and it's um it's the right thing to do there's no question about it it's it was all in how you do it and so during the legislative process I got to know the the folks from youth outreach and I said well can we do this in a way that doesn't muck up my programs too much and so that's how I got the opportunity to work with them and to create a law that worked perfectly I think for for their needs um so that it's possible to provide medical care to um to homeless youth for them to consent to their own care um but at the same time keep keep appropriate parental consent in other in other areas um but that's how I came to realize that we have a number of youth that are um that are on the street they are not all runaway some some of them have been thrown away which is I can't think of anything more tragic than throwing out a child um but nonetheless that's our that's that's an important to us like I said we it's important to meet them where they are and to provide the services where they are and so let me just tell you about our path clinic which is sort of a similar philosophy it's designed um we took it over from someone who else who had established it it's designed for pregnant women or women who recently um had a child who either have substance abuse problems or have had substance abuse problems to help them we provide um perinatal so pre birth medical care care for their through their after they've had the baby pediatric care and we also help provide services to them um to help them uh deal with their addiction I mean we understand that addiction is an illness it doesn't go away you just deal with it yeah so they're at a really difficult time yeah and it'd be real easy to be real judgmental about moms who take drugs um and we just we just don't do that we just don't do that we just we said we meet them where they are we provide them the services that improve their life improve their children's life we provide them parenting classes um we've had we've seen lots of lovely success with this group that's amazing and that's that's the uh sort of a residential campus yes that is so the young ladies and moms go there with their families it's I mean it's associated with the Salvation Army okay we are in partnership with Salvation Army there that's a terrific program and all of these programs really speak to this basic fundamental need to to address these concerns in society and not judge because judging makes it worse all that does is make me morally superior and and for whatever reason you're not you're not it you're not as good as I am so we don't do that here we just say you're a human being you're worthy of respect and good treatment and compassion and and care and all of these programs the path program the caravan the next up shelter the youth outreach and then of course the regular clinics they have very strong as integrated so case management as it were so you might have a psychologist there and maybe for the moms maybe lactation specialist or absolutely we we interrefer folks you know based on their needs you know the the folks at next step shelter that need medical care we of course match them up with the medical care that we provide through Waikiki health and do you would you hook in people as well to the to the system so that they might be able to you know get into to housing or to get food you know absolutely or absolutely we we are we nothing makes us happier than coordinating with the other programs that are in the state they both the both the community both the the government kinds of programs that are available and other community organizations for example we have a we provide services to a group of folks that have HIV AIDS and we do a pretty good job of that we've got a pretty large population among our among our patients but we we do this also in cooperation with the life foundation and with Gregory house which are both organizations that provide direct services to people with HIV AIDS it's important to us to coordinate where we can not to overlap to try and assure that our care is is really integrated into the community and really provides the best services we can find for the for the our patients and clients and guests yes well and it and it's it's it's great to hear that because you know we we are stretched in society now but there's a lot of great organizations out there doing great work and this is certainly one of them this is the the safety net this is the bedrock there but it's also for all of us to go down there so we it needs our support you're okay for accepting new new patients absolutely absolutely and I encourage folks to to to drop in and have a you know have a peek around our our waiting room and and see how the place feels to you it's you're certainly welcome to come have a look at us and so we can and other people can get involved you can volunteer a time down there or something like that really available at this point or well we have we have different opportunities for example we're very fortunate at the next step shelter that we have a variety of churches and community organizations that provide meals for our guests at the next step shelter who have made a schedule and take turns providing breakfast or dinner to the folks at the shelter so in that way we we have opportunities probably coordinated with other agencies so and if people want to find out more about this they can go to WaikikiHealth.org is that what it is okay WaikikiHealth.org and there's probably I think the best way to get involved is when the community needs our support whether it's through legislation or donations certainly people can donate to the we we are grateful for donations we we we try to explain what we do and get people the opportunity to make a contribution that's how I initially got involved was I was a donor long before I was a board member well if if this organization has people like you on its board it is a reflection of real beauty and compassion and integrity and exactly what we need in our society and you are a person that's making a difference WaikikiHealth is making a difference I thank you for for being on the board for helping our community and for coming on my show today well thank you so much for letting me come and talk about this I'm very passionate about the work that we do and I'm so grateful you gave me the opportunity to talk about it well I would like to invite you back so we can discuss this in depth another day but unfortunately we are out of time today so I'm going to have to wrap this up this is Winston Welch and out and about on think tech live streaming series and I've been delighted to talk with Phyllis Dendell board chair marketing and development volunteer board chair of WaikikiHealth and we certainly appreciated learning about this wonderful organization for more information on today's topic visit WaikikiHealth.org thanks for tuning in we welcome your feedback thanks for a broadcast engineer Ray Sangaling and our floor manager Robert McLean and to J. Fidel our executive producer who puts it all together I'll see you here every other Monday at three for more of out and about on think tech aloha everyone