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I have been on the phone all morning trying to locate a real, General or family practice Dr. None are accepting new patients or they hightailed it to greener pastures. Can anyone give me a tip on where I might find one of these rare creatures?
Don't you just love how Kona is getting a new medical center and we are still left hanging on for dear life on this side?[V]
Melissa Fletcher
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"Make yurts, not war" Bill Coperthwaite, 1973
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Since it appears that you do not have a PCP (primary care practitioner) I suggest that you go to the Puna Community Medical Center's urgent care clinic in the Pahoa marketplace complex. PCMC is working hard to expand its services to E. Hi., but the wheels of governmental process grind slowly. Within a year PCMC will gain Rural Health Clinic status and be allowed to be a PCP. Also underway is the first stage of a comprehensive medical center for Puna: a free-standing emergency room with lab and x-ray in Pahoa. Costs are estimated at $3.5 to 5 million, so every donation or volunteer helps move it along more quickly. Et tu?
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Try Hawaii Island Family Health Center 808-932-4215. Leave a message.
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quote:
Originally posted by DanielP
Try Hawaii Island Family Health Center 808-932-4215. Leave a message.
That is what I did several months ago and spoke to a lovely lady that informed me they were no longer taking new referrals but did refer me to a young doctor that was. He was since become swamped a couple months ago and also stopped taking new patients. A lot are retiring and there are a lot that just come and go. Yeah, tough situation there.
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*
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If you want a "real" doctor....the Kona side is your best bet....otherwise I would suggest Hamakua Health Center in Honokaa. You can make an appointment and get right in.
Making an appointment to see a doctor at the health centers in Hilo, Keaau and Pahoa take about a month. You can try walking in...but no guarantee they will see you. There are no GP's taking new patients on this side of the island...
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Rene is right about PCMC.
We have had excellent care at the PCMC, and always have been seen within 45 minutes when we walked in. The doctors are competent, caring and the cost is affordable even if you are without insurance. They will write you a prescription for maintenance drugs if you do not have a regular doctor, I find them to be very understanding of the community they serve, and how hard it can be to find a permanent personal physician here. I know it is not an ideal solution, but they can cover your needs while you keep searching.
I wonder if any of those doctors take waiting lists? It would make a lot of sense to have a list so that when patients leave a practice new ones can be slotted in. Kind of like college wait lists for popular classes.
Good luck in your search.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
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PCMC completed my "tatoo" produced by a'a lava at Kapona with the finest stitch work I have seen in a long time. "Dr" Dan and Jane are great people. Just as Rene said, they have a great vision for medical care in this area.
He who hoots with owls at night cannot soar with the eagles in the morning.
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I called HFH a couple months ago and got right into see Dr. Mitchell. She's a good doctor and my family (all three of us) have been very happy seeing her.
There are two clinics that sound the same (kinda) Hawaii Family Health is where we go.
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Dayna Robertson
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Dr. Mitchell isn't accepting. The only ones that are seem to be the clinics. Dr. Harmeling is accepting, but my friend had such an awful experience with him, I can't go to him. She'd kill me, lol. PCMC... Can you explain the location a bit more? Which marketplace, the one with Malama Market or the one with the farmer's market? Mahalo Puna webbers! Don't know what we'd do without this collaboration of people sharing their knowledge.
Melissa Fletcher
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One thing to keep in mind about doctors here is that there is a program that sponsors young doctors fresh out of training to work in rural America for three years and by doing so at the end of that period have their tuition loan debts retired by the sponsors (federal tax payers?) of the program. Many of the doctors that service our clinics are here on those terms, and once they do their time they leave. I suspect very few actually put roots down and become life long members, and contributors, of our community. And, for the most part we probably loose the best of them.
