Patricia Camero served as the nursing home administrator at Pohai Nani’s Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Care Center prior to assuming her role as executive director. Many of the residents in Pohai Nani’s care center are discharged from hospitals like Castle Medical Center in Windward O‘ahu.
On the state of health in Hawai‘i:
We have a higher incidence of diabetes in Hawai‘i, but the rate of obesity is lower than the national average. There are challenges unique to different racial populations, but with our climate, environment, physical activities, clean drinking water, family involvement and healthy foods, we do very well overall in health and longevity.
On the state of the industry:
We aren’t prepared for the swelling tide of baby boomers moving into the senior population. The Medicare and Medicaid dollars just aren’t there. But opportunities are definitely out there in technology, in advancing medicine and in how we will provide care in the coming years. There is so much more available that allows instantaneous communication between doctors, care facilities, hospitals and insurance companies. Technological advances have also helped our residents stay as independent as possible for as long as possible.
