UH Med Now

By Vina Cristobol
University Health Partners of Hawaiʻi

University Health Partners of Hawaiʻi (UHP Hawaiʻi), the faculty practice of the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), has signed an agreement with Pacific Anesthesia, Inc. (aka PAS, or Physicians Anesthesia Service) to integrate the group into the faculty practice and the UH medical school.

“This agreement is the first step in aligning and integrating our practices,” said Dr. Roy Magnusson, CEO of UHP Hawaiʻi. “We will be sharing an administrator who will be responsible for designing the integration and implementing the plan over the next year.”

PAS is a Hawaiʻi-based medical group that provides anesthesia services to a number of hospitals and clinics on Oʻahu. Department of Surgery chair Dr. Kenric Murayama (JABSOM 1985) and University of Hawaiʻi JABSOM and Department of Surgery Division Chief of Anesthesia Dr. Jason Isa (JABSOM 2002) are also actively involved in this new integration with PAS.

“While this is the first step in the process of integration of PAS and UHP Hawai’i, the partnership is symbolic and a major step in the development of a multispecialty surgery department to improve access to high quality surgical care for the people of Hawai’i,” says Dr. Murayama.

With this partnership, the goal is to stimulate the recruitment of highly qualified academic surgeons and anesthesiologists and to develop multidisciplinary programs within JABSOM affiliated Hawaiʻi hospitals.

The long-term goal is to build an anesthesia division, and eventually, a Department of Anesthesia within the faculty practice. A full-fledged Department of Anesthesia would enhance education for medical students and post-graduation medical residency programs.

Dr. Isa explained, “This partnership provides the potential for an even stronger clinical anesthesia program for our students and residents which ultimately results in better care for the people of Hawai’i. Our core goals are aligned and the potential for creating a residency program to recruit and keep the best applicants in state is an exciting prospect.”

More about the JABSOM Surgery Department
The Surgery Department at JABSOM is headquartered on-site at The Queen’s Medical Center, one of JABSOM’s community-based academic health centers. The surgery faculty includes 50 academic faculty and over 250 appointed private surgical attending physicians. In addition to the Directors of Surgical Education, there are division chiefs for anesthesiology, ENT, emergency medicine, hyperbaric medicine, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, orthopedics, pediatric surgery, plastic surgery, radiology, SICU education, surgical research, thoracic, transplant, trauma, urology, ultrasound and vascular surgery. Other academic training partners include Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, Kuakini Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, and the Tripler and VA Health Systems.

About Pacific Anesthesia, Inc.
Pacific Anesthesia, Inc. (aka Physicians Anesthesia Service) was established over 20 years ago. It is one of the largest anesthesia groups in Hawai’i with over 30 physicians, some with specialized training in cardiovascular, regional and acute pain, pediatric anesthesia, as well as critical care and echocardiography.