UH Board Seeks $3.7M to Add Clinicians, Serve Kupuna and Rural Hawaiʻi

The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents requested $3,724,600 to add clinician and faculty positions aimed at easing shortages that force cancer patients to travel off-island and leave kupuna waiting months for neurologists. The coordinated hire request, announced January 22, 2026, would create 18.5 full-time equivalent positions across five UH health units to expand direct patient care and workforce training statewide.

The funding would support UH’s Health Science and Healthcare Interdisciplinary Workforce Initiative by placing clinician faculty who both treat patients and train the next generation of providers. UH President Wendy Hensel framed the push as a responsibility to island communities. "UH has a kuleana to the people and ʻāina of Hawaiʻi, and that responsibility drives us to focus on solutions that make a real difference in our communities," Hensel said. "By strengthening our healthcare workforce, we can train more providers and expand access to care for kupuna and families across all islands."

The initiative covers UH Mānoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, the UH Cancer Center, the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, and the UH Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy. It targets three high-priority areas identified as critical for the state: cancer, neurology and dementia, and behavioral health integration and addiction medicine.

Cancer care would receive $1,674,400 and 6.35 FTE to establish an accredited hematology-oncology fellowship and expand clinical research capacity, addressing the pipeline that currently contributes to off-island travel for treatment. Neurology and dementia would receive $1,162,200 and 7.40 FTE to create an accredited neurology residency program and expand the Kūpuna Workforce Innovation Hub, aiming to shorten wait times for elders seeking specialist care. Behavioral health and addiction services would receive $888,000 and 4.75 FTE to grow the Education and Research Center of Addiction Medicine and enhance telehealth reach into rural communities.

Interim Provost Vassilis L. Syrmos emphasized the dual role of the hires. "The goal is to improve access to care across all islands by providing direct clinical services and addressing shortages in underserved communities," Syrmos said. "This coordinated request for positions will increase the workforce pipeline by training more doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, and other health providers essential to providing high quality care for patients with dementia, addictions, or other behavioral health challenges." UH Vice President for Budget and Finance Luis Salaveria noted the request comes amid slowing state revenue growth, adding that the approach targets areas where need and impact are greatest. "Given the current fiscal climate, this approach allows UH to focus its resources on areas where the need is greatest, and the impact on Hawaiʻi’s communities will be most immediate," Salaveria said.

The hire request is one of two high-priority items in UH’s $18.8 million supplemental operating budget request for fiscal year 2026-27. For Big Island residents, the proposal promises more local clinicians, increased telehealth capacity, and expanded training programs at UH Hilo that could reduce off-island travel and long specialist wait times for kupuna. If the legislature and state budget process approve the funding, the additions would begin to fill documented gaps in cancer care, neurology, and behavioral health across the islands.