[HEALTH WATCH]

Isle’s Asian health centers
stand to benefit from
federal expansion

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Star-Bulletin staff

Hawaii's 10 community health centers hope to benefit from a federal push to expand health services nationwide for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The nonprofit Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations seeks to double the number of patients in those groups seen in community health centers.

The association announced its goal in response to the Resolution to Expand Access to Community Health Organizations.

Beth Giesting, executive director of the Hawaii State Primary Care Association, said most community health centers here are association members and see a significant number of Asian and Pacific Island patients.

"So this is good news for us," she said. "We certainly are looking forward to expansion here, both working with AAPCHO, the Primary Care Association and the federal government."

REACH would create 1,200 new or expanded community health center sites and serve an additional 6 million new patients by 2006, according to the association. The current centers now serve more than 300,000 Asian and Pacific Island patients.

Giesting said Hawaii's centers currently serve about 70,000 people annually.

She added said the federal administration "is asking for an unprecedented amount of money to expand centers across the country."

Hawaii's community centers are applying individually for federal funding, she said. "Several applications are pending now for federal funds.

"In the next year and years to come, Hawaii health centers are poised to expand their services and sites and take advantage of this."

The Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations points out that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest-growing racial/ethnic population in the United States. They are expected to reach 37.6 million or 9 percent of the U.S. population by 2050.

But some of these groups have uninsured rates of up to 34 percent, face language barriers that keep them from health-care services and are affected disproportionately by certain diseases, such as tuberculosis and diabetes, the association reported.

The association views the REACH initiative as one way of addressing health disparities and access problems.

"We hope all federal and state agencies will help us meet this goal," said Jeffrey Caballero, the association's executive director.