Plans include periodically moving hundreds of cubic yards of sand along the Fort DeRussy Beach sector to widen it and every 10 years mining large amounts of sand from offshore to replenish the Royal Hawaiian Beach sector. Read more
Staffing shortages and health and safety problems have continued to plague the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo, two years after the state took over the nursing facility and fined the company that was managing it over $510,000 for numerous violations following a COVID-19 outbreak that infected more than 80% of residents, killing 27. Read more
Members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation have introduced bipartisan legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set up a new registry to track and collect health data from people who were exposed to tap water laced with jet fuel from the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility in 2021. Read more
Hawaii once again ranked among the best states overall when it comes to its health care system, just behind Massachusetts, in an extensive analysis of 58 metrics that assess access to care, health outcomes, quality, costs, reproductive care and women’s health. Read more
Amid an alarming rise in syphilis cases in Hawaii, the state Department of Health is urging health care providers to increase screenings for the disease, particularly among women who may become pregnant or are already pregnant in order to prevent the disease from being spread to their babies. Read more
Hundreds of residents of Kunia Village have finally been given the all-clear to resume drinking their tap water after two wells that supplied their potable water tested positive for chemicals called PFAS earlier this year. Read more
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The state Board of Land and Natural Resources has given the green light to demolish the Diamond Head Breakwater, a wall of large boulders that juts out into the ocean, creating a protected cove fronting Doris Duke’s Shangri La estate. Read more
A new report released by the state Department of Health provides an assessment of the health effects people may have faced after being exposed to jet fuel, the cleaning product Simple Green, high levels of chlorine and an anti-icing agent in their drinking water after a pipeline burst at the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility on Nov. 20 2021. Read more
A federal judge is expected to decide soon whether Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet, will have to sit for a deposition in a civil lawsuit brought by military and civilian families whose drinking water was contaminated with jet fuel from the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility in November 2021. Read more
The claimants, represented by Just Well Law PLLC, the Hosoda Law Group and Motley Rice LLC, filed administrative claim forms under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Read more
The state has ranked last in recent years when it comes to women obtaining adequate care, defined as initiating care in the first four months of pregnancy and making it to an appropriate number of doctors appointments. Read more
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser had in April sought documents that health insurers regulated by the state file annually with DCCA’s insurance division detailing the pay. The insurance division has released salary information for top executives in the past. Read more
Ever since thousands of gallons of jet fuel spewed from a pipeline at Red Hill in November 2021 and made its way into the Navy’s drinking water system, sickening military families, environmentalists and water officials have had their sights set on ensuring that the fuel in the facility’s massive underground tanks that sit just 100 feet above an aquifer is permanently removed. Read more
Land Board members sent a strong message that even if the resort association committed to fully funding the project, they still may reject it. Read more
The EPA said that it also has amended the agreement, called an administrative order of consent, to address public concerns that it contained weak defueling deadlines and not enough opportunities for public participation. Read more
The EPA, along with the Hawaii Department of Health, have regulatory oversight over the Red Hill facility. Read more
Doctors from other states may soon be able to quickly acquire licenses to practice medicine in Hawaii after state lawmakers passed a bill this month enabling the governor to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, an agreement among states that streamlines the licensing process. Read more
“Everyone has a life. Just because we are disabled, yes, there are some inconveniences, but we should have fair access to transportation and get to our destination in a reasonable time,” said a Handi-Van rider. Read more
The new timeline, presented to federal and state regulators this week, shaves off a year from the original timeline. Read more
The new timeline, presented to federal and state regulators this week, shaves off a year from the original timeline. Read more
A national health panel is recommending that women begin getting regular mammograms at age 40, rather than 50, citing an alarming increase in breast cancer in younger patients. Read more
