Anita Hofschneider

The bill is being pushed by a multinational company from Illinois that wants to sell products in Hawaii more cheaply.

One in five Indigenous Chamorros in the Northern Mariana Islands has diabetes, and the demand for dialysis is growing. But the only dialysis centers are on the capital island of Saipan.

Hiki i ka hana ke kāpae i ka huakaʻi hoʻoluhi a hoʻēmi i ka paʻapū ʻana ma nā kikowaena hoʻomaʻemaʻe koko e nui aʻe ana ma ka mokuʻāina.

Patients who hadn’t sought health care in years flocked to clinics when a temporary pandemic program expanded Medicaid access to the commonwealth’s guest worker population.

Kidney failure afflicts Pacific Islanders at much higher rates, but for reasons that some say amount to discrimination, they don’t get transplants as often.

The new facility is expected to open in November 2023 and will have 18 hemodialysis stations.

Ua paʻakikī ʻē ka hele ʻana i ka hoʻomaʻemaʻe koko ʻia ʻana no kekahi mau kupa kuaʻāina. Kuhi ʻia, e hoʻopilikia ana ka piʻi ʻilikai i kēia mau mea.

More states are lifting or reforming regulations governing the opening of new dialysis facilities.

The treatment can help eliminate exhausting commutes and relieve overcrowding at a growing number of dialysis centers in the state.