Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program continues to strengthen Hawaiʻi’s healthcare workforce

Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program continues to strengthen Hawaiʻi’s healthcare workforce despite a recent legal challenge filed against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by a mainland organization.

The program was established in 1988 to address needs identified in the 1985 E Ola Mau Native Hawaiian Health Needs Study.

Lack of accessible and acceptable healthcare providers was identified across the board as a cause of dismal health statistics among Native Hawaiians. Research also demonstrated the need for more Native Hawaiians in health care.

Recommendations were made to achieve parity in the healthcare professions by providing opportunities to Native Hawaiians in medicine, nursing, social work, dentistry and dental hygiene, public health, nutrition, mental health and community outreach.

Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program successfully recruits and nurtures professionals-in-training for the state’s most needed primary and mental health care disciplines; they are prepared to deliver quality, culturally informed health services.

The merit-based program covers tuition, books and other related expenses.

Nearly 360 scholarships in 20 disciplines were awarded during the past 35 years to eligible recipients, who eventually are placed in medically underserved areas in Hawai‘i to serve communities where care is needed most.

A majority remain in medically underserved communities beyond their obligated service tenures, often rising to positions of leadership.

“Efforts to dismantle programs like this ignore both the historical context and the ongoing need to safeguard equitable access to care throughout Hawai‘i,” asserted nonprofit Papa Ola Lōkahi Chief Executive Officer Sheri Daniels in a release about the scholarship program. “These scholars represent the next generation of healers for our communities — a presence that uplifts the health of all.”