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The Maui News
UHA Health Insurance has donated $25,000 to fund a temporary obstetrics position at nonprofit Malama I Ke Ola Health Center, which is facing unprecedented demand with the recent closure of the island's only private obstetrics practice, the two organizations said in a joint news release Thursday.
The interim obstetrician will deliver babies and offer prenatal care to pregnant women until a new permanent OB-GYN starts at Malama I Ke Ola on Dec. 26.
Earlier this year, Maui Lani Physicians and Surgeons announced that it would end full obstetrics care and offer gynecology care only after October due to staffing issues, challenges with recruiting physicians and low reimbursements in exchange for time worked, as well as burnout.
The end of obstetrics care at the clinic, one of three main obstetric community providers on Maui, shrunk options for pregnant patients, and for a time it looked like they might be forced to give birth off-island.
Malama I Ke Ola and Kaiser Permanente are the other two options for full maternity services and deliveries. A Wailuku-based nonprofit, Malama I Ke Ola has a mission of providing safety-net health care for the historically marginalized. Medicare and Medicaid patients are its two largest populations, but many women with private insurance on Maui began to look to Malama I Ke Ola when Maui Lani announced the end of its obstetrics practice.
"Given the exit of obstetrics providers on Maui, Malama I Ke Ola is playing an even more critical role today to provide obstetrics to pregnant women on-island," said Howard Lee, president and CEO of UHA. "Funding a new Malama I Ke Ola obstetrician provides the women of Maui with needed healthcare so they are able to enjoy one of life's greatest events with the support of family and friends close to home."
As expected, Malama I Ke Ola has seen a definite uptick in maternity patients who are delivering their babies starting in November, the news release said.
And, after the devastating Lahaina fire on Aug. 8, access to all health services is even more impacted. Malama I Ke Ola's Lahaina satellite clinic was destroyed in the fire, but it is currently providing services out of the Lahaina Comprehensive Health Center.
"The closure of obstetric services at a private practice earlier this year had already put the community of Maui in an access crisis for obstetric services," explained Dr. John Vaz, the CEO and infectious diseases physician at Malama I Ke Ola. "The wildfires in August made this even more complicated for women and families displaced by the fires. Malama I Ke Ola Health Center stepped in to fill this gap for a community impacted by both these events; to provide pregnancy and delivery care in a high quality, trauma-informed and safe environment."
Vaz credited "support and funding by partners such as UHA and other health insurance plans."