Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, Kamehameha Schools reaffirm commitment to improve Hawaiʻi’s well-being

Hawai‘i Pacific Health and Kamehameha Schools this week reaffirmed their joint commitment to improve education, health, economic stability and social well-being of students and people throughout Hawai‘i by renewing a strategic partnership.

Leaders from both organizations gathered at the Kamehameha Schools’ Kapālama campus in Honolulu to celebrate the renewal and formally sign a new memorandum of understanding.

Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Officer Jack Wong and Hawai‘i Pacific Health President and Chief Executive Officer Ray Vara signed the memorandum just as they did when the original agreement was inked in 2019, laying the foundation of collaborative work benefiting students, families and communities statewide.

“Over the past 6 years, our partnership with Hawaiʻi Pacific Health has shown how powerful it is when health and education are aligned around community,” said Wong in a release about the partnership’s renewal. “Together we’ve opened doors for haumāna [students] to explore health careers, invested in local food entrepreneurs and grown our local food systems.”

He added that the new agreement builds on that momentum by reaffirming the focus of the organizations on the overall health, resilience and well-being of Native Hawaiians.

“We are deeply grateful to Kamehameha Schools for this partnership and are proud of the impact we’ve made together to improve social determinants of health for Hawai‘i families,” said Vara in the release. “Through innovative programs, we’ve advanced workforce development initiatives, supported local food systems and made transformational investments.”

Vara added that the new agreement reaffirms the shared commitment of the partners to leverage their collective strengths in health care and education to create healthier communities throughout Hawai‘i.

The renewed partnership adds a shared initiative of enhancing Hawaiian community health and well-being.

Hawai‘i Pacific Health and Kamehameha Schools, as part of that effort, will share data and explore opportunities to partner on research related to Native Hawaiian health disparities to help better serve their needs.

Throughout the past 6 years, together, both organizations have made a significant impact in the four areas of focus initiated in their original agreement.

Projects launched during that time include:

1. Expanding career pathways and internship opportunities for haumāna.

• Provided valuable experiences for more than 100 Kamehameha Schools students through research opportunities and health care career training programs.

2. Investing in programs that make a social impact and empower Hawai‘i people and families.

• Supported local food entrepreneurs throughout the state with a joint investment of about $1 million in Feed The Hunger Fund in Hawai‘i.

3. Building healthy food systems.

• Both organizations achieved their purchasing goal of sourcing at least 50% of food locally for dining services and exceeded that goal in 2025.

4. Coordinating activities for community engagement.

• Coordinated community workdays for nearly 400 Hawai‘i Pacific Health employees and their families who volunteered at Kamehameha Schools partner sites, such as loʻi on O‘ahu and Kaua‘i.