STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3192

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 94

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Education and Health, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 94 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII TO BEGIN REBUILDING THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH BY 2012,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to urge the University of Hawaii to begin rebuilding the School of Public Health by 2012.

     Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.  Comments on the measure were submitted by the University of Hawaii System.

     Your Committees find that, after graduating three thousand and five hundred individuals over the years, in 1999, the University of Hawaii School of Public Health lost its accreditation.  Subsequently, in 2000, the school was incorporated into the John A. Burns School of Medicine as the Office of Public Health Studies.  However, at the time of closure of the School of Public Health, the University of Hawaii indicated that it planned to pursue the rebuilding of the school within five years.  Since that time, the State has made strides towards preparing to restore the School of Public Health.  This measure requests the University of Hawaii to begin rebuilding the School of Public Health by 2012.  Your Committees determine that reinstatement of the School of Public Health is critical to addressing the health workforce shortage problem within the State.

     Late testimony was provided by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs that sought to highlight the following, with which your Committees concur and would suggest the University to also consider:

     (1)  That graduates of the school should be specifically prepared to improve the health of this State through a sound understanding of Hawaii's cultural contexts, accomplished through the formation of partnerships with other University of Hawaii departments; and

     (2)  That special focus be paid to Hawaii's ailing rural communities, including through the provision of loan repayment benefits for future graduates of the School of Public Health for each post-graduate year spent servicing Hawaii's rural communities.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 94 and recommend its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Health,

____________________________ DAVID Y. IGE, Chair

____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair