WAIPAHU — Waipahu High School today partnered with Hawaii Pacific Health and Hawaii 3R to announce the school's new Academic Health Center, an innovative, fully-operated primary care clinic on campus.
The center is the first of its kind in the country where high school students play a role in school-based clinics. Students who participate in the school's Academy of Health Sciences pathway have the opportunity to learn directly from and collaborate with physicians and health care professionals to serve patients.
“When we have leaders who understand the importance of education, who connect students, and provide the resources necessary to enable departments and schools to build these kinds of facilities that support student learning…this is what happens. That's why this is the most exciting time in public education,” said Superintendent Keith Hayashi. He previously led the high school for more than 10 years as principal and is credited with laying the foundation for industry partnerships to strengthen the school's career academy.
In partnership with the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, the clinic will be operated by Hawaii Pacific Health (HPH) family medicine physicians, obstetricians and gynecologists and a team, serving the community by appointment. To do. – Only the basis. The 1,870-square-foot center has four exam rooms and one treatment room. HPH said the clinic will begin accepting appointments from area residents later this week.
“This is a huge step forward for health care in Hawaii,” said Dr. Leslie Chun, CEO of Hawaii Pacific Health Medical Group. “We are immersed in our community to serve the health care needs of our people, while empowering high school students to become Hawai‘i’s health care professionals of the future. It is also a model for how we can contribute to the health and well-being of our state.”
Students in Waipahu High School's Academy of Health Sciences have the opportunity to be mentored by physicians and gain real-world experience in positions ranging from administrative to clinical. Academy faculty also receive training and professional development from clinic staff.
“When we look at this clinic, it's important to make sure we have ready talent, especially in the health care industry where it's needed. Waipahu High Principal Zachary Sheets said.
More than 500 of the school's health academy students will be able to participate in the clinic's daily operations. In an effort to unify all of the school's academies, original works by Arts and Communication Academy students are displayed on walls throughout the facility, Sheets said. Students from the school's culinary arts department, which falls under the Natural Resources Academy, will also participate in the clinic, which focuses on nutrition.
“Teenagers like me have the privilege of acting as the best of the next generation,” said Carlo, a third-year student at Waipahu Health Sciences Academy who hopes to pursue veterinary medicine after high school. Gores said. “Waipahu has a chance to become self-reliant and finally give back to the community that raised us.”
Hawaii 3R led construction management for the project. S&M Sakamoto won the construction bid after designing the floor plan in partnership with G70. Construction began last summer on the building that previously housed the school's adult education center.
Waipahu High School is a nationally recognized wall-to-wall academy high school with six career academies nationally recognized.
