Cancer patients traveling off-island for treatment. Kūpuna waiting months to see a neurologist. Rural communities struggling to access behavioral health and addiction services. These challenging realities are driving the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents request for $3,724,600 to expand Hawaiʻi’s healthcare workforce and improve access to care across the islands.
The funding would support UH’s new Health Science and Healthcare Interdisciplinary Workforce Initiative, a coordinated hire request that would add 18.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) clinician and faculty positions across five health sciences units to address severe shortages in high-need medical fields, including cancer, neurology and dementia, and behavioral health integration and addiction medicine.
“UH has a kuleana to the people and ʻāina of Hawaiʻi, and that responsibility drives us to focus on solutions that make a real difference in our communities,” said UH President Wendy Hensel. “By strengthening our healthcare workforce, we can train more providers and expand access to care for kupuna and families across all islands.”
Expanding the healthcare pipeline, patient care
The coordinated hire would add clinician faculty who both train future healthcare providers and deliver direct patient care in rural and underserved communities across the state.
“The goal is to improve access to care across all islands by providing direct clinical services and addressing shortages in underserved communities,” said UH Mānoa Interim Provost Vassilis L. Syrmos. “This coordinated request for positions will increase the workforce pipeline by training more doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, and other health providers essential to providing high quality care for patients with dementia, addictions, or other behavioral health challenges.”
Addressing high-priority health needs
The initiative spans five UH units—UH Mānoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, the UH Cancer Center, the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, and the UH Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy—and focuses on clinician leaders and researchers working with state and health system partners through community-based, interprofessional approaches aligned with legislative priorities.
Funding would be directed toward three high-priority health areas identified as critical needs for the state:
- Cancer ($1,674,400; 6.35 FTE): Establishing an accredited hematology-oncology fellowship and expanding clinical research capacity.
- Neurology and Dementia ($1,162,200; 7.40 FTE): Creating an accredited neurology residency program and expanding the Kūpuna Workforce Innovation Hub.
- Behavioral Health Integration and Addiction Medicine ($888,000; 4.75 FTE): Expanding the Education and Research Center of Addiction Medicine and enhancing telehealth services.
- Beyond direct patient care, the initiative would support statewide continuing education in dementia care and behavioral health–primary care integration, consistent with Hawaiʻi State Department of Health and legislative priorities.
Targeted request in a tight budget climate
The initiative is one of two high-priority items in UH’s $18.8 million supplemental operating budget request (the second is for UH Mānoa athletics) for fiscal year 2026–27, introduced amid slowing state revenue growth.
“We purposefully limited the request to major strategic items that are time-sensitive and provide essential benefits to both the state and the university,” said UH Vice President for Budget and Finance Luis Salaveria. “Given the current fiscal climate, this approach allows UH to focus its resources on areas where the need is greatest, and the impact on Hawaiʻi’s communities will be most immediate.”
