Living With & Working in Hawaii Health Care

[buraian-kun]

Hi, there.

I'm currently working on the mainland as a cardiac sonographer (echocardiographer, echo tech,...) and have applied for cardiac ultrasound jobs at Maui Memorial Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente in Honolulu (Moanalua).

I would very much like to make contact with anyone who works at these facilities or anyone who works in ultrasound anywhere in the state.

I think I've done a fairly exhaustive search, but if anyone knows of other cardiac ultrasound jobs, I would greatly appreciate it if you would let me know.

Actually, I've been trying to find a job on the Big Island for over two years, but either none of the clinics there offer this service or the people doing the job never leave!

Cheers,
-Brian*

[buraian-kun]

My wife has been diagnosed with colitis and makes periodic visits to a gastroenterologist.

I have heard that the overall state of healthcare in Hawaii is fairly poor, although that probably varies from island to island.

Can anyone address the realities of healthcare in Hawaii (particularly concerning Oahu and Maui)? (ie. availability and quality of doctors, etc.)

Does anyone know of a good gastroenterologist in either place?

We both really want to move to Hawaii, but I won't take her anywhere where she can't get good medical care.

Cheers,
-Brian*

[leashlaws]

I've been pretty lucky with great doctors and excellent care. Two of my doctors are like old fashioned guys who know you and really care about you.
One even came from his house on his day off to treat me at the drop of a hat.
I have a very good physiatrist who has greatly improved my overall well being with the diagnosis of fibromyalgia and excellent treatment for that. It's not a fun thing to have let me tell you! I used to have Kaiser and even then I liked
my physicians. I will mourn the day my primary care physician retires and
it's probably not that far off in the future.

[cynsaligia]

hospitals in hawaii hold their own against those on the mainland. a number of hawaii hospitals, for example, won gold and silver awards from the american heart association for providing excellent care to patients with coronary artery disease etc (go to the saturday edition of starbulletin.com in the letters to the editors section & you'll see a letter addressing these awards.)

as for a gastro MD, dr. stephen buto took great care of me when i had a colon cancer scare in my mid-20s. if i were at work, i'd give you at least one more name of a doc whose quality of care record is proven, but i'm tapping this out on a blackberry whilst lazing in my philippine hotel room.

[Amati]

Can anyone address the realities of healthcare in Hawaii (particularly concerning Oahu and Maui)? (ie. availability and quality of doctors, etc.)

Does anyone know of a good gastroenterologist in either place?

I'm am rewriting this, my first response was made before I saw your other threads. From those postings I see that you are still looking for work, so I'd recommend you have as a major part of your interview of the company (meaning YOUR questions for the company) inquiring what is their medical insurance company, what are the benefits for the spouse, and the cost? In Hawaii (as many places), access to good health care can be greatly influenced by your insurance coverage.

Also ask about how much would COBRA be, in case you are let go, you'll want to know what it will cost to continue your medical coverage. This is especially important if you already know you must have continuous coverage.

[Amati]

I'm currently working on the mainland as a cardiac sonographer (echocardiographer, echo tech,...) and have applied for cardiac ultrasound jobs at Maui Memorial Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente in Honolulu (Moanalua). I would very much like to make contact with anyone who works at these facilities or anyone who works in ultrasound anywhere in the state.

Have you contacted the hospitals on the Big Island directly, and asked them if they have a "cardiac sonographer" position? Maybe it is covered by under another job description. By the way, two Big Island hospitals have both recently been in the news due to reductions in staff.

[cynsaligia]

if you end up working for one of hawaii's major hospitals, your health insurance plan will likely be HMSA unless you work for kaiser of course. it will be comprehensive.

[Jake's Ohana]

Can anyone share information related to health coverage in the islands. Other than Kaiser, are there commercial insurance plans similar to the ones offered in the contig us? For example, does Blue Cross, PacifiCare, Cigna, or HealthNet exist? Thanks for sharing any info.

[cynsaligia]

I believe HMSA is hawaii's blue cross/blue shield. HMSA is the largest health. Insurance provider.

[alohacandy]

Can anyone share information related to health coverage in the islands. Other than Kaiser, are there commercial insurance plans similar to the ones offered in the contig us? For example, does Blue Cross, PacifiCare, Cigna, or HealthNet exist? Thanks for sharing any info.

HMSA is Hawaii's Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan. When someone from Hawaii who has HMSA travels to the mainland, they can use hospitals that are contracted with Blue Cross Blue Shield without problems. Kaiser and HMSA have been the 2 major players in Hawaii for ages. We have some smaller ones like UHA, HMAA, Summerlin, and HMA that have sprung up in recent years. I've known a few people with other plans like Cigna or Aetna but most of the time they were retiree plans from companies that they worked for on the mainland. Humana and United have popped up lately as Medicare supplement plans here but I don't think that I've seen anyone have them as a stand alone plan (who didn't already have Medicare in place.)

[cynsaligia]

I had HMAA back in 95 when I worked for the ad agency they used. Coverage, iirc, was similar to hmsa.

[buraian-kun]

Hey, everyone. Just wanted to revive this thread. I'm hoping to try to relocate to HI again in early 2011.

MAHALO!
-Brian*

[Kaonohi]

Hey, everyone. Just wanted to revive this thread. I'm hoping to try to relocate to HI again in early 2011.

MAHALO!
-Brian*

Brian,
Kaiser just went through a period of disasterous layoffs and restructuring, and is coming out the other side. They are hiring again. Make sure your resume is current and strong!
They are looking for GOOD, DEPENDABLE people to carry them on further into the 21st century.
The pay is good, benefits are good; however they are being selective.

[buraian-kun]

Brian,
Kaiser just went through a period of disasterous layoffs and restructuring, and is coming out the other side. They are hiring again. Make sure your resume is current and strong!
They are looking for GOOD, DEPENDABLE people to carry them on further into the 21st century.
The pay is good, benefits are good; however they are being selective.

Actually, I saw a position open that I qualify for. I've been agonizing over whether to apply now, even though we had really planned to stay put through the end of the year and pay down our debt. Hmmm...

Any details on the layoffs? Things like that make me nervous. Of course they want dependable people, but I need stability, too...

Thanks for the heads-up!

Cheers,
-Brian*

[Kaonohi]

Actually, I saw a position open that I qualify for. I've been agonizing over whether to apply now, even though we had really planned to stay put through the end of the year and pay down our debt. Hmmm...

Any details on the layoffs? Things like that make me nervous. Of course they want dependable people, but I need stability, too...

Thanks for the heads-up!

Cheers,
-Brian*

The layoffs have stopped. They are rebuilding.

APPLY NOW!

The selection process is long, and if selected they will have options for you. They hold on to GOOD people, and make accomodations for new employees when feasible.

K

[buraian-kun]

The layoffs have stopped. They are rebuilding.

APPLY NOW!

The selection process is long, and if selected they will have options for you. They hold on to GOOD people, and make accomodations for new employees when feasible.

K

Well, according to this, it's going to take at least four months to do everything I need to do to exempt my dog from the 120 day quarantine. Come on, isn't it enough that he's cute?!

Cheers,
-Brian*

[anapuni808]

Seriously? no, it's not enough that he is cute (although I'm sure he is). It's just that we don't like rabies here, we don't have rabies here & we want to keep it that way.

and, it used to take a lot longer for pets to get cleared from quarantine.

[buraian-kun]

Seriously? no, it's not enough that he is cute (although I'm sure he is). It's just that we don't like rabies here, we don't have rabies here & we want to keep it that way.

and, it used to take a lot longer for pets to get cleared from quarantine.

Sorry, should have applied the appropriate smiley. Like this one, maybe:
Believe me, I'm just thankful that there is a way to avoid quarantine. I would never complain about reasonable efforts to keep a deadly disease out of the islands.

Cheers,
-Brian*

[anapuni808]

hahaha! yeah, that probably would have helped. I probably should have done the same so here it is: