WHEREAS, thirty per cent of Hawaii's ethnically and culturally diverse population live in rural areas; and

WHEREAS, residents in these rural areas tend to hold close their cultural and ethnic traditions in conducting their daily lives, including health care practices, while adopting selected Western influences and practices; and

WHEREAS, the combination of cultural and ethnic traditions and Western approaches to medicine and health care creates a rich array of efficient and effective health care options for use by rural and urban residents in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, unfortunately, there currently does not exist any centralized and concerted effort to study and research health care practices in rural areas; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii at Hilo is ideally suited to lead the development of a Rural Health Science Center to centralize and coordinate study and research of health care practices in rural areas; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii at Hilo has a baccalaureate-granting nursing program and is beginning a master's degree program in counseling psychology, both of which have a cross-cultural focus; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii at Hilo initiated a minor in occupational safety and health that also has a multi-cultural emphasis, and is designed to train individuals to work in the rural islands of the Pacific Basin; and

WHEREAS, the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Resource Management is developing a veterinarian technology program that will pioneer laserscopic surgery and adopt distance learning techniques to facilitate teaching and guidance in remote locations; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii at Hilo has had a National Science Foundation grant to train minority students to conduct research on medical issues; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii at Hilo is currently engaged in a partnership with Hilo Hospital, the Veterans Administration clinic, and community hospitals on the island of Hawaii to coordinate teaching and research in the health care field; and

WHEREAS, the objectives of the Rural Health Science Center would be, among other things, to:

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, that the University of Hawaii is requested to establish a Rural Health Science Center at the Hilo campus to meet the objectives described herein; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii at Hilo submit a report on the actions taken to establish a Rural Health Science Center to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2004 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Mayor of Hawaii County, Hawaii County Council, President of the

University of Hawaii, and Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Report Title:

Rural Health Care Center; Develop; Univ. of Hawaii at Hilo