To answer your question Mella, anyone with serious health issues should probably
not move to Hawaii island. I am not even sure they should move to Oahu. I would advise living in a major metropolitan area with several teaching hospitals. Or perhaps Rochester, MN for Mayo if health care is a key concern.
There are two sides to this coin, we live in a place that is far healthier in lifestyle than most American cities(as long as you stay away from the plate lunches of course.) The weather is such that we all spend a great deal more time outdoors and are active more well into much older years because our joints are not barraged with coldness/stiffness. It is indeed a more active and healthy place. We have an abundant supply of fresh fruits, veggies and seafood.
On the other hand medical facilities are pretty grim compared to any large city on the mainland and we got so spoiled with Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, that if either of us get really sick (or need important testing) and we can afford it, that is where we will head.
Mella, why would you be applying to a Hilo Physician if you don't live here??? Are you finally moving here? !!! If so, yipee[
]! We found a local Dr. who had just moved here a few years ago, and interestingly, he was also a college room mate of a friend of ours. He accepts our California Blue Cross (Cobra) too. That insurance ends in December and so far the best we have been able to get is HIPAA coverage which is ridiculously lean in coverage. We are still waiting to hear from Kaiser. HSMA turned us down because of my husband's blood pressure meds.
Before we got our Dr. here I came down with H1-N1 flu and went to an Immediate Care facility and was able to see a Dr. for $125 (office visit) plus the tests they required. Not bad at all. Since I am healthy, going to a local Dr. for flu symptoms is fine, but I am more than concerned as to what we will face when we are older and there are more serious issues. They do not even have some of the diagnostic testing needed here. My husband already had a yearly physical here and it was far less comprehensive than any mainland Dr. he has seen in the past. He even had to ask him to do a prostate exam and his father died of prostate cancer.
I also have a good friend here whose husband here has lymphoma. He has spent a lot of time in Honolulu @ Queens. He is in fact there for round two of his latest Chemo treatments. They have a school age daughter and so my friend has to stay here while he is over there alone for several weeks at a time, basically suffering through the effects of his treatments. That sucks, but as Rooster says, we do live in a rural community, even if Hilo is the second largest town in Hawaii, it is small by most standards and our population is very spread out. I have been to many third world countries and believe me this is far better than care in most of them, except maybe Cuba [
]. Still it is something for many to consider before moving here and one reason many people eventually leave the island and go back to the mainland.
I guess the bottom line here is that if you really want exceptionally good healthcare at a reasonable price you should not live here. On the other hand, live here and you will probably need less health care and what you get for most minor problems will be fine.
After all,we have a very low suicide rate here.[xx(]
Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany
www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
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