A popular $30 million state program to pay off student loans to keep health care workers in Hawaii has run low on money, leaving organizers searching for new funding.
Gov. Josh Green — America’s only sitting governor who is also a doctor — plans to ask legislators for another $5 million to support the Hawaii Education Loan Repayment Program, or HELP, to retain health care workers and reverse their exodus to more affordable states.
Since September, HELP has pledged to pay off $20 million in student loans for 850 applicants, leaving $10 million for 1,300 others still hoping to be approved.
Those on the waitlist have been told in an email, “Unfortunately, at this time, we are burning through our funding from the state. After crunching our numbers, we will not have enough money to support everyone this year. In subsequent years, we will continue to receive funding from the state for the foreseeable future. However, this funding will be at a much lesser amount than previously awarded $30 million.”
The money approved by the state Legislature for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 goes to pay off $50,000 in student loans for each of two years for a range of health care workers, including audiologists, social workers and surgeons.
In exchange, they have to agree to treat 30% of patients who receive Medicaid or Medicare, which Green previously said applies to “almost the entire state” — or “people who are struggling.”
The state money was augmented by a $5 million contribution from Lynn and Marc Benioff to pay off student loans for health care workers specifically on Hawaii island, where the Benioffs have a home. Marc Benioff is co-founder, chair and CEO of Salesforce and owns Time magazine.
On Saturday the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine plans to host the Hawaii Health Workforce Summit, where the idea for HELP was born.
The summit is free and open for anyone. It will include posters with more information on HELP, including a list of all health care workers who are eligible.
The med school, which administers HELP, plans to talk about the funding shortfall Saturday in the hope of generating additional revenue, perhaps from hospitals or medical groups that will retain staff and help them recruit future health care workers by paying off their student debt, said Dr. Kelley Withy, who runs HELP at JABSOM.
“It’s already a success,” Withy said. “It’s not out of money. It’s just low on money. We’re trying to raise more money.”
She hopes HELP won’t need an additional $30 million because the initial funding went to pay off more expensive loans, followed by a subsequent round for health care workers with smaller debt.
Withy called HELP the only program “in the world” that pays off student loans “for a medical assistant to a social worker to a surgeon. … Some of them would have to leave if they didn’t get this.”
“We’re still accepting applications, and we’re going to review them before December,” she said. “We want to fund everyone. That’s our goal.”
Support for HELP remains personal for Green, who only in 2023 paid off his own student debt after 30 years.
He started his Hawaii medical career in rural Kau on Hawaii island treating low-income families through the National Health Service Corps.
Through HELP, Green said he hopes to make Hawaii the only state without a health care worker shortage, especially for the neighbor islands and rural areas.
Kauai has a separate program that pays for four years of JABSOM tuition for six students with Kauai ties annually through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
In return, they have to work on Kauai for four years after graduation.
The Chan Zuckerberg Imitative was founded by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, who owns a sprawling compound on the Garden Isle that has angered many residents.
But Withy called the purpose of Zuckerberg’s philanthropic initiative “a wonderful program.”
Eligible JABSOM students “have to have ties to Kauai,” she said. “They don’t have to be from Kauai, necessarily, but that would be ideal.”
Hawaii Health Workforce Summit
>> When: 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday
>> Where: University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine
>> What: Free and open to anyone interested in improving health care in Hawaii
