(BIVN) – Two mobile health trailers have been unveiled in hurricane-battered Kaʻū, made possible by a $350,000 donation from The IRONMAN Foundation to Hawaiʻi Island Community Health Center.
The donation is reported to be the largest single gift in The IRONMAN Foundation’s 23-year history.
The mobile healthcare trailers that will “help restore access to essential medical and dental services in Nāʻālehu” following the catastrophic impacts of Hurricane Lala in August.
Severe flooding generated by Hurricane Lala’s heavy rains inundated the health center with the same floodwaters that swept through the surrounding area, altering the Nāʻālehu landscape. “Deep mud filled the property, and the health center building remains without power or reliable connectivity,” the Hawaii Island Community Health Center (HICHC) reported in August. “The facility is not currently safe for patient care and will require significant remediation before it can reopen.”
HICHC set out to establish its mobile clinic in the parking lot of the damaged Nā‘ālehu health center, “bringing medical and behavioral health care directly back into the community.”
The IRONMAN Group public relations says the trailers will enable HICHC to bring comprehensive care, beginning immediately, “directly to residents while repairs continue on its flood-damaged Kaʻū Family Health and Dental facility, a process expected to take up to a year.”
