Capitol rally
urges more funding
for UH school

There's doubt about the
fate of the School of
Public Health

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Gov. Ben Cayetano is leaving the question of maintaining the University of Hawaii School of Public Health to the UH Board of Regents, says his spokeswoman, Kathleen Racuya-Markrich.

About 150 students, graduates, faculty members and supporters rallied at the Capitol yesterday to urge that the school be preserved.

It hasn't had a permanent dean for more than six years, its funds have been cut, and it isn't expected to be accredited in June by the Council on Education for Public Health unless it obtains enough resources to rebuild its programs.

Cayetano has asked the Legislature for money to keep the John A. Burns School of Medicine alive, saying it's essential if Hawaii is to be a Pacific-Asia center of health and wellness.

It's his understanding that the School of Public Health is going to be rolled into the medical school, Racuya-Markrich said.

State Health Director Bruce Anderson has said, however, that both schools are vital to the state's development as a health center. He is working with William Wood, interim dean of the public health school, on an agreement to provide some faculty and student support.

Wood said maintaining and building up the school "is not an expensive proposition."

It's proposed that a permanent dean be appointed, at least on a short-term contract during the rebuilding process, and the school be allowed to expand resources "with a sense of stability," he said.

He said this could be done with an additional $50,000 per year for three years to augment money accumulated from unfilled positions. Wood said the school would lose about $400,000 in federal funding to support maternal and child health training, as well as other funds, if it was reduced to a program in the School of Medicine.

Supporters walked from the Health Department yesterday to Father Damien's statue in front of the Capitol.

"We couldn't have a better place for a rally for public health," Wood said.

Speakers stressed the importance of public health and the need for the kind of training provided by the UH school.

Bioterrorism training, for example, enabled people to deal with the recent anthrax scares, Wood noted.