Kalihi-Palama Health Center (KPHC) is an independent, 501 (c) (3) non-profit, organization that plays a crucial role in the Kalihi-Palama community as a provider of health and social services to patients who typically face significant barriers when accessing health care. KPHC is located in the heart of Kalihi-Palama; an urban, inner-city community that is home to approximately 63,820 residents, many of whom are poor Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Island ethnic minorities.

KPHC opened doors in 1975 in response to community concerns regarding the health and social needs of low-income Native Hawaiians and a growing Asian and Pacific Island immigrant population. KPHC continues to deliver quality care to New Americans and their extended families. Delivering quality care with linguistic and cultural proficiency is KPHCs distinguishing competency.

KPHC serves more than 21,000 patients annually. KPHCs satellite facility, KPHC Downtown Family Medical and Dental HealthL Center earned the2009 UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Community Healthcare Improvement Award. KPHC has achieved theNational Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Level III recognition at 3 sites. In addition, KPHC earned re-Accreditation by theCommission on Accreditation of Rehabilitative Facilities (CARF). Innovations include a partnership withthe National Kidney Foundation Hawaiito fight chronic kidney disease and a partnership with theDepartment of Health for Living Well project an initiative to integrate Behavioral Health and Physical Health care.

Many new Americans and their extended families start their life in Hawaii, in the Kalihi and China Town area. Reverend Richard Wong, Auntie Anne Kanahele, Uncle Henry Aarona, and other community leaders at Kaumakapili Church acknowledged the need to provide primary health services to poor Native Hawaiians and immigrants from several Asian countries and the Pacific Islands. The community leaders opened the clinic to meet the need for primary health care services.

In addition to poverty, these residents faced tremendous language and cultural barriers that affected their health and their ability to access both health and social services. Reverend Richard Wong, Auntie Anne Kanahele, and Uncle Henry Aarona broadened the mission to address not only the health care, but also the needs of the whole person including access to food, housing, and the ability to participate in community life in a manner that maintained the dignity of these marginalized residents.

KPHC became a Federally Qualified Community Health Center (FQHC) that provides comprehensive, integrated, healthcare, and social services in 1999. KPHC is a deemed entity covered by the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). KPHC remains committed to the mission and currently serves new Americans and their extended families.

KPHC staff mirror the cultural diversity of our patients and understand that in addition to physical health matters, behavioral health matters, and social issues need attention. We pay attention to what goes on in our patients homes and neighborhoods and seek to provide assistance and links patients to other resources in the community which can help break the cycle of poverty, abuse, and neglect that could otherwise carry from one generation to another.

In 2011, KPHC served 21,500 patients in 17 different languages and cultures 1,600 of the patients were homeless and 300 received housing and/or homelessness prevention assistance. KPHC emphasizes the health and wellness of our patients and the communities that we serve. Delivering healthcare and social services with cultural proficiency to new Americans and their extended families is KPHCs distinguishing competency.