The Queen's Medical Center

As the leading medical referral center in the Pacific Basin, Queen's is widely known for its programs in cancer, cardiovascular disease, neuroscience, orthopedics, surgery, trauma, behavioral medicine and women's health.[5] Queen's offers a comprehensive range of specialties, including gastroenterology, genetics, geriatrics, gynecology, neonatology, obstetrics, psychiatry, pulmonology, and radiology. It is one of the few hospitals in the state with both a 24-hour emergency psychiatry consultation service and a busy yet robust consultation-liaison service. Kekela is the 20-bed acute adult inpatient psychiatric unit, and the Family Treatment Center is Queen's child and adolescent psychiatry inpatient unit supporting acute and residential beds with up to 20 patients at any one time. Outpatient care at Queen's is available through Queen Emma Clinics, a primary care clinic with a focus on the uninsured and underinsured.[6] Queen's is the only Level I trauma center in Hawaii verified by the American College of Surgeons.[7]

Queen's Health Systems (QHS) has partnered with many organizations in order to improve patient care and the medical work environment. By partnering with the John A. Burns School of Medicine Department of Native Hawaiian Health, they have funded positions at Queen's hospital, such as adding a psychologist,[8] that allow for a diverse interdisciplinary team in the surgery room. By doing so, this has provided improvements in team communication, interaction, and ultimately effectiveness.

In 2015, the Queen's Medical Center began a collaborative affiliation with the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality in order to improve patient safety and quality healthcare improvement programs.[9]

Queen's Health Systems (QHS) has been a major pillar of financial support for many various organizations in the State of Hawaiʻi. Since 2002, QHS has donated approximately $10 million to the University of Hawaiʻi Native Hawaiian Health programs, as of 2016.[10] The funds are aimed to address the disproportionately high occurrences of illness in the Native Hawaiian population.

The funds are distributed to many other programs that push to eliminate these disparities. Among these programs is the ʻImi Hoʻōla Post-Baccalaureate Program. QHS provides stipends to the current students for financial support throughout their tenure in the program. ʻImi Hoʻōla aims to recruit those who are interested in medicine and who may have come from disadvantaged backgrounds. These participants who complete the program are able to matriculate into the John A. Burns School of Medicine. Many of the ʻImi Hoʻōla graduates end up serving underserved communities all throughout the Pacific and beyond, making it one of the most successful programs in the country for recruiting future physicians in rural communities.[11]

Not only do the funds go to programs, but also in efforts to help policy makers in Hawaiʻi to create important policies and documents that address the needs of those within the Native Hawaiian community among the islands. These policies pave the way into making administrative change that ultimately allow for improvements in the health of Native Hawaiians.

The Queen's Medical Center serves as the primary teaching hospital for most of the residency programs sponsored by the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine. It also serves as one of the clinical training sites for medical students completing their third-year clinical clerkship, electives and sub-internships.[12]

Queen Emma Clinics is also partnered with the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) to provide medical students and resident physicians clinical training and education.[13]

In 1999, Queen Emma Clinics and JABSOM successfully piloted the joint JABSOM School Health Education Program (SHEP) as part of first year medical students' community medicine and service-learning curriculum.[14] This program is facilitated by first year medical students and aims to educate local public high school students about relevant health care topics, such as drug use, sexual health, alcohol, diet, and exercise.[14] The program also seeks to promote medical student involvement in community service, academics, and health promotion.[14]

In 2019, Queen's Health Systems announced a partnership with Kapiʻolani Community College (KCC) to offer a joint 12-month medical assisting program. The program offers free tuition for 26 Hawaiʻi residents and the students will gain hands-on experience at The Queen's Medical Center while they attend classes at KCC. The program was created in response to the shortage of medical professionals in Hawaiʻi.[15][16]

Along with their financial philanthropy for programs and policies, another notable donation is towards scholarships. Many of the scholars are in efforts to support the Native Hawaiian Health Initiative that involves supporting healthcare training via scholarships and training assistance.

The four goals of the Native Hawaiian Health Program are:

1. Improving clinical outcomes for Native Hawaiians
2. Increasing access to Queen's services and improving outreach to the Native Hawaiian community
3. Providing health care training opportunities for Native Hawaiians
4. Conducting and participating in research that will help improve Native Hawaiian health[17]

In 2007, QHS donated $25,000 towards scholarships for a variety of health programs at the Kapiʻolani Community College. In efforts to support beyond physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, these funds go toward health programs such as the radiologic technology program.[18]