UHA Health Insurance Pledges $300,000 to The Queen’s Health Systems to Support its Advanced Respiratory & Emerging Infectious Disease Unit

UHA Health Insurance is providing $300,000 in funding to The Queen’s Health Systems to support its Advanced Respiratory and Emerging Infectious Disease Unit at The Queen’s Medical Center’s Punchbowl campus.

The money will go toward dedicated patient care units that will set the standard in airborne and infectious disease control and treatment. The units will feature negative pressure technologies, double filter entrance and exit ways, and increased sanitization/decontamination areas for physicians and staff.

“As a physician-founded company, support of the larger local medical community is part of our DNA,” explains Howard Lee, UHA Health Insurance president and chief executive officer.  “We believe that a dedicated infectious disease wing at Queen’s is critical now as we face the COVID-19 pandemic, but also prepares our community for the future.  This much-needed, specialized unit will provide patients with better care and outcomes while protecting physicians and health care staff.”

In addition, UHA Health Insurance greatly appreciates the work that Queen’s does as an organization, especially for its medical professionals who are frontline heroes in the fight against COVID and other infectious diseases.

“When this global pandemic first reached our shores, Queen’s provided rapid crisis response,” said Jill Hoggard Green, President and CEO of The Queen’s Health Systems. “We are prepared to assume a pivotal leadership role as we address the new normal – living, working and caring for patients in the COVID-19 environment. We are deeply grateful to UHA for supporting this project, which will allow us to treat patients with the virus in a safe setting for both our patients and caregivers.”

About the Queen’s Health Systems (QHS)

The Queen’s Health Systems (QHS) is a nonprofit corporation established in 1985 to provide expanded health care capabilities to the people of Hawaii and the Pacific Basin. It is Hawaii’s preeminent family of healthcare-related companies and has more than 7,000 employees and more than 1,500 affiliated physicians and providers in its statewide network. QHS consists of The Queen’s Medical Center (Hawaii’s oldest hospital founded in 1859), The Queen’s Medical Center – West O‘ahu, Molokai General Hospital, Queen’s North Hawaii Community Hospital, The Queen’s Health Care Centers, Queen Emma Land Company, Queen’s Development Corporation, Queen’s Insurance Exchange, Queen’s Clinically Integrated Physician Network, and Queen’s ‘Akoakoa, and has ownership interests in CareResource Hawaii, Hamamatsu/Queen’s PET Imaging Center, and Diagnostic Laboratory Services.

About UHA Health Insurance

UHA Health Insurance provides medical, drug, and vision plans to nearly 4,500 Hawai‘i employer groups and approximately 58,000 members. As the only health plan in Hawai‘i founded by physicians – in 1996 as University Health Alliance – it was the first to offer preventive and wellness care-focused health plans in the state. It continues to be physician-led and now offers the largest physician network in Hawai‘i. By meeting strict quality standards to ensure clinically sound decision-making that respects the rights of patients and medical providers, UHA received accreditation in Health Utilization Management through URAC, the independent non-profit that promotes healthcare quality.