24th National Conference: the Plenary Presentations of University of Hawaii Doctors Palafox and Hixon

Last Updated on April 16, 2022 by Lee Burnett, DO, FAAFP

Two members of the University of Hawai’i faculty, whose presentations on Hawai’ian and Pacific Islander  health have been highlights of previous National Conferences, will have plenary faculty positions at the 24th National Conference..

Impact of Reform Initiatives on State and Local Health Care Delivery Systems in Hawai’i and the American Trust Territories 

Throughout the four days of the National Conference, there will be plenary sessions relating to the impact of reform initiatives on states and on local communities and health care entities, including hospital systems, physician residency programs and teaching health centers and public health departments.

Assessing the current state of primary health care access in Hawai’i and in the American Trust Territories in the Pacific will be Dr Neal Palafox, who administers the University of Hawai’i’s  Pacific Disparities Research mission.

Dr. Palafox has lived and worked throughout the Western Pacific directing over $20 million dollars of grant funding for capacity building for health. His most recent work has been in the areas of breast and cervical cancer control and prevention. He is strong advocate for social justice, especially for those who are suffer the health consequences of open air testing of nuclear bombs during the mid-20th century on Enewetak Atoll.

Joining Dr Palafox will be his University of Hawai’i faculty colleague,  Dr Allen Hixon, Chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health of the Burns School of Medicine of the University of Hawai’i.

On Thursday, April 11, 2013, Doctor Hixon will present a Thought Provocateur session in which he assesses the concern that issues the Primary Care Medical Home might compromise the goal of health care equity.

Panel on the Intended and Unintended Consequences of PPACA

Dr Palafox will join a panel later on Thursday morning discussing what the intended and what they believe might be the unintended consequences of the PPACA health insurance reform legislation.

His co-panelists will be Perry A. Pugno, MD, MPH of the American Academy of Family Physicians and Charles Q. North, MD, MS of the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque.