{"id":218650,"date":"2025-07-15T10:47:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T20:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=218650"},"modified":"2025-07-15T10:47:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T20:47:31","slug":"transportation-travel-rural-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/07\/15\/transportation-travel-rural-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Transportation barriers impacting Hawai\u02bbi rural health care, policy solutions proposed"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"person<\/p>\n

Long ambulance response times, costly and unreliable non-emergency transportation, and insufficient insurance coverage for travel-related health care expenses are among the key findings of a new report released by the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Rural Health Research and Policy Center<\/a> (UH<\/abbr> RHRPC<\/abbr>).<\/p>\n

The Impacts of Transportation and Travel Access on Rural Health in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span><\/em><\/a> underscores the widespread challenges faced by residents in rural and neighbor island communities when trying to access timely and affordable health care, and offers policy solutions to address barriers.<\/p>\n

Although about 30% of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s population lives in rural areas spread across six publicly inhabited islands, most specialty care is located on Oʻahu<\/span>. The report found that residents of Molokaʻi<\/span> and L\u0101naʻi<\/span> routinely face flight delays or cancellations, often missing urgent medical appointments and waiting months for rescheduling.<\/p>\n

The report also highlights gaps in insurance coverage, especially for patients who do not qualify for Medicaid, and the high out-of-pocket costs for travel, lodging, and food associated with medical visits. Maternal-fetal health services are particularly challenging, with some pregnant patients needing to relocate from neighbor islands to Oʻahu<\/span> for prenatal and delivery care or risk emergency medevac transport.<\/p>\n

“Improving access will require coordinated efforts across healthcare, transportation and policy sectors,” said John Desfor, UH<\/abbr> RHRPC<\/abbr> policy and data analyst. “We hope this research will guide meaningful action to improve transportation access for healthcare in rural communities across Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.”<\/p>\n

Some of the shared policy options to address these challenges include:<\/p>\n