Categorized | Health

Crawford named NHCH’s Kaheleaulani medical director

Top row, from left: Brenda Resendiz-Reynoso, Hoomalule case manager; Dr. Claren Kuulei Kealoha-Beaudet, clinical psychologist and program director; Dr. Franco Acquaro, clinical psychologist, Jennifer De Costa, grant administrator/behavioral specialist; Maile Mangauil, medical assistant. Bottom row, from left: Dr. Leinaala Crawford, medical director and primary care physician; and Lokenani Kealoha Souza, family nurse practitioner. (Photo courtesy of NHCH)

Top row, from left: Brenda Resendiz-Reynoso, Hoomalule case manager; Dr. Claren Kuulei Kealoha-Beaudet, clinical psychologist and program director; Dr. Franco Acquaro, clinical psychologist, Jennifer De Costa, grant administrator/behavioral specialist; Maile Mangauil, medical assistant. Bottom row, from left: Dr. Leinaala Crawford, medical director and primary care physician; and Lokenani Kealoha Souza, family nurse practitioner. (Photo courtesy of NHCH)

MEDIA RELEASE

Family medicine physician Leinaala Crawford, M.D., joins North Hawaii Community Hospital’s Kaheleaulani, a Native Hawaiian health program.

Her addition to the NHCH team and Kaheleaulani program will help to better meet the needs of Native Hawaiians, who make up nearly 30 percent of the community NHCH serves.

As medical director of Kaheleaulani, Crawford will provide medical and administrative guidance, leadership, oversight and quality assurance for the clinic, in addition to seeing patients as Kaheleaulani’s primary medical physician.

“It is an honor to be a part of a movement to better the health and well being of our people of Hawaii,” Crawford said.

Kaheleaulani’s mission is to clearly identify Native Hawaiian health disparities particular to North Hawaii and to clearly formulate a plan of action with the goal of rectifying those health disparities.

“Dr. Crawford has energy and understanding of Native Hawaiian health that is obviously an important component of her personal identity. We are humbled and grateful to have her join our Kaheleaulani team,” said Dr. Claren Kuulei Kealoha-Beaudet, Kaheleaulani’s clinical psychologist and program director.

Together, Crawford and Kealoha-Beaudet will oversee the program’s mission-driven Hoomalule Project, which provides Native Hawaiian ohana a comprehensive program with the highest quality, culturally informed medical, behavioral and psychosocial change interventions.

Thanks to funding support from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Hoomalule Project supports qualified participants in reducing their body weight by 10 percent or more over a 12 month period by empowering Native Hawaiians to be proactive in their overall health and well-being.

Most recently, Crawford served as urgent care and family practice physician at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Wash. In addition, she has experience with obstetrics, gynecology, pediatrics, sports medicine, as well as managing hospitalized patients with chronic and complicated issues.

Crawford was born in Honolulu and raised in Waianae and Washington state. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Central Washington University, medical degree from Creighton Medical School in Omaha, Neb. and completed residency in family medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Crawford is another new physician recruited by North Hawaii Community Hospital’s North Hawaii Medical Group, established in 2011 to hire physicians directly in an effort to better retain physicians on Hawaii Island and work closely with community physicians to form a highly coordinated and integrated system of care.

Kaheleaulani, formerly known as the Native Hawaiian Health Clinic at NHCH, opened in September 2011.

Kaheleaulani is currently accepting patients with a target population of Native Hawaiians age 13 and older, non-Hawaiians who are married to a Native Hawaiian or are a life partner of a Native Hawaiian, non-Hawaiians who are widowed and whose spouse was a Native Hawaiian, and non-Hawaiians who are divorced or separated from a Native Hawaiian and have Native Hawaiian children.

Kaheleaulani is in North Hawaii Community Hospital at 67-1125 Mamalahoa Highway.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 881-4843.

— Find out more:
www.nhch.com

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