For supporters of One Health Hawaiʻi

Add your voice in support of One Health Hawaiʻi

The State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA) will decide whether Hawaiʻi Pacific Health and Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) may come together under a new nonprofit parent organization, One Health Hawaiʻi.

Hawaiʻi law provides an opportunity for members of the public to submit written comments concerning the proposed One Health Hawaiʻi transaction.

If you choose to participate, please share your own views and experiences in your own words. Your comments do not need to be lengthy or address every aspect of the proposal.

Here are the steps to submit written testimony.

How it works

Write your testimony In your own words, share your experience and why you support One Health Hawaiʻi. What you write is what goes in your letter.
Review, edit and sign Right away, see it laid out as a formal letter to SHPDA. Further edit the document, including the subject line, then add your signature and check the finished document. Nothing is submitted unless you sign it.
Choose who submits it We can hold your testimony and email you once it has been submitted, or you can submit it directly to SHPDA yourself. Either way, we email you a copy of your signed letter.

Important things to know

Testimony submitted to a state agency becomes part of the public record. Your name, affiliation and testimony may be seen by the public and media.

If you are affiliated with Hawaiʻi Pacific Health or HMSA, please disclose that affiliation. SHPDA is entitled to know and consider affiliations when reviewing testimony, and transparency helps ensure credibility.

The purpose of this portal is to solicit testimony in support of One Health Hawaiʻi. Thus, Healthier Hawaiʻi Together reserves the right to exclude from its submission to SHPDA any testimony in opposition to the proposed transaction or testimony containing disparaging remarks regarding the parties thereto. You remain free to submit your own public testimony to SHPDA directly in accordance with SHPDA’s instructions.

State Health Planning & Development Agency
1177 Alakea Street, Suite 402
Honolulu, HI 96813

You may also use this portal to prepare your comments and authorize Healthier Hawaiʻi Together to submit to SHPDA on your behalf.

Participation is voluntary. Whether you submit comments, whether you support or oppose the proposed transaction, and what you choose to say are entirely up to you.

What the agency is deciding

Four questions SHPDA has to answer

What matters to you

Which of these do you want to speak to?

Pick the ones you have something of your own to say about. One or two is plenty — a focused letter carries more weight than a broad one.

You do not need to address all of these issues. If your experience relates to one or more of them, you may choose to discuss that experience in your comments.

Your experience

What have you seen or experienced?

This is the part only you can provide. A few plain sentences about something that actually happened to you, your family, or your patients does more than any amount of polished argument.

What you write here becomes the body of your letter. The heading, the greeting to the agency and your signature block are added for you, so you only need the body. You can still change it before you sign.

It helps the agency to know which of its criteria your experience speaks to — for example, “This goes to the first criterion, access and affordability.”

Please speak from your own knowledge, experience and perspective. If you are affiliated with Hawaiʻi Pacific Health or HMSA, please identify that affiliation in your comments.

Your testimony We have started you off with the shape of a letter of support. Replace everything in [brackets] with your own words, and change any other line so it sounds like you.

About you

Who is testifying

This appears at the top of your letter and in the signature block.

Full name

Title or credentials Optional. e.g. RN, M.D., MPH Island

Home address

The agency weighs testimony from people in the affected community, so your letter carries the address you are writing from. It appears in the letterhead of your letter, which becomes part of the public record.

Street address

City or town ZIP code

Employer or organization Optional, but please name it if you work for Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, HMSA, or any party to this application. Disclosure makes testimony stronger, not weaker. You are speaking as a…

Email Where we send your verification code and a copy of your signed letter. It does not appear on the letter. Phone Optional.

Letterhead

Optional. If you are authorized to submit testimony on behalf of an organization, you may upload organizational letterhead here. Your letter will be set on the letterhead so the version you review matches the version that will be submitted. Accepted file types: PNG, JPG or PDF. For best results, use a logo or letterhead image that is wider than it is tall. If you do not upload letterhead, we will create a simple heading using your name and address.

Confirm your email

Confirm it is really you

Because testimony will be submitted to a state agency under your name, we need to verify your email address before setting up your letter. We will send a six-digit verification code to .

Received

Thank you! Your draft is being prepared.

Nothing has been submitted to SHPDA yet.

Our team reviews every draft before it is shared. You will receive an email at with a link to review your letter, make any changes you’d like, and sign it.

If you do not receive the email within a few days, please check your spam or junk folder, or reply to any message you have received from us.

What happens after you sign?

If you choose to have us submit it, we will hold the letter until the filing period opens and we will notify you via email on the day it has been submitted to SHPDA. If you prefer to submit the testimony yourself, we will provide information on when and where it should be filed.

You may withdraw your testimony at any time before it is submitted by replying to any email from us.