On the Run at Kaiser

February 13, 2008
By Yu Shing Ting

Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest not-for-profit health plan founded by former Hawaii resident, the late Henry J. Kaiser, celebrates its 50th anniversary in Hawaii this year with a variety of events: completion in May of a $150 million renovation project that includes the opening of a new wing at its Moanalua Medical Center, and expanded services for its 223,000-plus members. "We're approaching it as a 50th birthday party that we're going to celebrate with the community here," says Janet Liang, regional president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan & Hospitals. "Also, we want to focus on our history with Henry J. Kaiser and his influence in developing Hawaii in the 1950s. "We're really proud of the fact that Henry J. Kaiser said that of all the things he was known for here (developing Hawaii Kai and the Hilton, formerly Kaiser, Hawaiian Village among others) he wanted to be remembered for his medical center." But before the birthday festivities begin, Liang, along with Kaiser executive medical director Dr. Geoffrey Sewell and a team of about 350 Kaiser employees, friends and family members will be running the 8.15-mile Great Aloha Run Feb. 18. The healthcare organization has provided physicians and staff for the aid stations at the finish line. This year, they've broadened their sponsorship by being the sponsor for the health and wellness zone at the Great Aloha Run Expo scheduled for Feb. 15 to 17 at Neal Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall. Some of the things they have planned are four Nintendo Wii stations where people can simulate different activities, and an Ask a Doctor booth. "I think it's real hard to tell your patients to be healthy when you're not," says Sewell on Kaiser's participation in the Great Aloha Run. "I have over 400 doctors and I tell them that it's important to model that behavior. Plus you feel better and you work better." Liang and Sewell are just two of the many corporate leaders at Kaiser who are living the message. They both finished the Honolulu Marathon this past December, Liang with a time of 4 hours and 5 minutes. Sewell in 4 hours and 7 minutes. "I grew up as a chubby kid and teenager," says Liang, who was born and raised in San Francisco and moved to Hawaii last year with her husband and two daughters. "And being from a Chinese family, all of our social events were around food, and I grew up eating a lot of fast food, rice and dumplings. And I didn't do many physical activities." Liang says she eventually learned about and maintained a healthy lifestyle in college, but the weight returned in her 30s. "With stress, marriage and kids I just felt too busy," she explains. "Working moms will say exercising and being active is a luxury but it's a necessity. "I really felt the effects of it. I put on about 15 pounds, and I felt uncomfortable. I had neck aches, I was stressed a lot and wasn't very happy. Then a friend talked to me about joining a gym, and we started by walking on a treadmill next to each other." Sewell says doing group activities or working out with a friend can make exercising much easier to do. "You have each other as motivation and you can hold each other accountable," he says. Sewell adds that regular exercise is one of the top things you can do for your health. He lists the other things as: * not smoking * watching your weight * sleeping well (It's been shown that people who don't sleep well tend to binge eat and other things.) * stay connected with your physician * get your screenings and check-ups at each recommended stage of your life "Our focus is on prevention and early detection," adds Sewell. "We know that preventive care saves lives. "For example, the more mammograms we do, we catch breast cancer earlier. A lot of people don't know what is prevention and how to take responsibility for yourself, so it's really our desire to educate. We really want you to live long and thrive." Liang and Sewell say that Kaiser is focused on making things easier for their patients by providing added options and more accessibility to physicians. Among these new services is the Internet. Now patients can e-mail their doctor, get prescriptions, request an appointment and see a summary of their medical record and/or lab results online (at http://www.kp.org). Also, in response to members expressing a need for longer hours, Kaiser extended its primary care and pharmacy hours at its Waipio clinic starting last month. Now, patients can see a doctor Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Honolulu clinic is scheduled to begin offering extended hours later this year. "That's where we are headed, to make things easier for people because we know people live busy lives," says Liang. "We are also hiring more primary care physicians and opening the newest in-patient facility at Moanalua in May." Improvements at Moanalua include a new tower (to open in April), a new mother and baby suite, a new state-of-the-art operating room and intensive care unit, and an emergency room that will be triple the size it was before. And while Liang and Sewell agree that Henry J. Kaiser would be proud of where the hospital is at today, there is still a lot to do. "We want to continue to grow in this state and be able to touch more lives here," explains Liang. "My hope is that the state and the Department of Health, and the nursing and medical schools, and the healthcare industry can really work together to solve the Neighbor Island access issue and the fact that we continue to have 100,000 people uninsured in Hawaii. I think that's a common dream, to figure out how to ensure that everybody gets access to health-care. And our biggest challenge is keeping health insurance affordable." "Kaiser started because Henry J. had a work force that needed to stay well, so prepayment for prevention and early detection and wellness is really at his core, which is why what he's most proud of is building this hospital," adds Sewell. "I think if Henry J. was alive today he'd be amazed with the Internet and everything like that. He'd be using it. But he'd be most proud of the care we've been providing to Hawaii."