HONOLULU, Sept. 8, 2022 >> Hawaii has a severe doctor shortage. Find out how bad it is and what we can do about it at events later this month on Maui, Oahu and Hawaii island sponsored by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

The special guests will be:

>> Dr. Scott Grosskreutz, a diagnostic radiology specialist and founder of the Hawaii Physician Shortage Crisis Task Force.

>> Lisa Rantz, executive director of the Hilo Medical Center Foundation and president of the Hawaii State Rural Health Association.

>> Dr. Elizabeth Ignacio, an interventional radiologist who practices throughout the state.

The three will talk about why doctors, nurses and other medical professionals have found Hawaii to be a difficult place to practice, and why they have been leaving the islands in droves in past years or not coming to Hawaii to begin with.

Will 2023 be the year our political leaders step up to the plate and do something about it? 

More important, what could they do to help revive Hawaii’s ailing healthcare system? Reduce taxes? Allow state licensure reciprocity or recognition? Appeal to the federal government to adjust Medicare payments? Repeal Hawaii’s protectionist certificate-of-need laws? Authorize expanded telehealth services? Make housing more affordable so health professionals can afford to live here? Any or all of the above? Or what else?

Grosskreutz, Rantz and Ignacio will all appear at the first event on Maui, on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; $10 admission includes lunch and parking.

Grosskreutz and Rantz will lead the remaining two events:

>> On Oahu, Wednesday, Sept. 28, at a private club in Honolulu, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; $30 admission includes lunch and parking.

>> On Hawaii island, Thursday, Sept. 29, at The Arc of Hilo, 1099 Waianuenue Ave., from 5:30 to 7 p.m.; $10 admission includes dinner and parking. 

To register for the event on Maui, go here; on Oahu, here; and on Hawaii island, here.

For more information, please contact Melissa Rabideau at 808-762-6897 or info@GrassrootInstitute.org.