At the recent 2022 Hawaii State Reform and Health Policy Conference, three executives representing a unique perspective on Hawaii’s economic situation will discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the state’s welfare and community. I shared my thoughts.
Ray rose, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hawaii Pacific Health, John Fink, CEO of Aloha United Way, and David RasnerThe President of the University of Hawaii (UH) attended the panel for an insightful conversation.
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When the pandemic reached two years, Fink shared the impact of burnout on the non-profit sector.
“There is burnout, whether people understand it or not. There is malaise. There are compulsions that affect people. I, not only in nonprofits, but throughout the state. We all need to be very familiar and aware of how we handle it. “
He also noted that inflows of funds from federal and private sector partners helped prevent the collapse of many organizations, but there is no guarantee that bailouts will remain constant. According to Fink, strengthening the nonprofit sector is essential for vulnerable communities served by the nonprofit sector. Assets are limited, income is limited, and employed (ALICE) Individual. It currently accounts for about half of the state’s population.
Rasner said another way to increase the economic mobility of these communities is to increase access to higher education. He pointed out the pandemic sacrifice to the number of high school graduates in Hawaii who continue to have higher education. Prior to the pandemic, 55% of these graduates continued to be educated, but this figure has dropped to 50-51% over the last two years.
With that statistic in mind, Rasner said the UH system will continue to work with partners such as the Ministry of Education to strengthen the education pipeline. for example, Hawaii P-20 Partners for Education Program The purpose is to improve the retention rate and learning ability of students from elementary school students to university students and higher education institutions.
Vala has moved on to long-term solutions that increase economic efficiency not only in the medical sector but throughout the state. This includes discouraging emergency care by prioritizing higher quality preventive care.
“We have done something meaningful to change the health of the population, so we will find that we succeeded when the value of an empty hospital bed was greater than the value of an occupied hospital bed. “He said.
A common theme at the panel was the importance of constant cooperation between all sectors throughout the state (policy makers, health care, education, private and non-profit organizations).
“We all have a completely different conversation than we did in the pre-COVID environment,” says Vara. “… Hawaii would be a much better place if we could maintain a spirit of collaboration between leadership across sectors.”
