Construction is now underway for Waiākea High School's Health Learning Lab, which is part of the statewide ʻAulama I Ke Ola initiative that aims to continue building a pipeline of local healthcare workers amid ongoing staffing shortages in the sector.
Led by nonprofit trade organization Healthcare Association of Hawaiʻi, in partnership with the state Department of Education and nonprofit Hawaiʻi 3Rs — which stands for Repair, Remodel, Restore — the health learning lab model allows public school students to practice clinical scenarios and skills training with medical equipment in a hospital-like setting on campus.
Community supporters came together Tuesday in Hilo to champion collaborative workforce programs backed by data that have helped expand healthcare career pathways for students navigating education, training and employment in the Islands.
“We’re excited about the work and this model,” Hilton Raethel, HAHʻs outgoing president and CEO, told Aloha State Daily. “We need to attract a higher proportion of kids into healthcare. … These state-of-the-art environments provide students with training hours for certifications and a seamless transition after high school straight into the workforce.”
The first-of-its-kind learning lab opened at Wai’anae High School in April, complete with a life-size 3D digital anatomy dissection platform, patient rooms and bays, a phlebotomy station and more; it cost $3.2 million to build. With access to these resources, students can pursue pathways such as patient service representatives, medical assistants, certified nursing assistants (CNA), phlebotomists and other entry-level roles. Those seeking to become a nurse or doctor can also utilize the lab to “get ahead” of college requirements or medical school, Raethel notes.
“The feedback we’ve gotten is that it’s invigorating for students, but also for the teachers,” said Raethel, who recently announced plans to retire in January 2027 after more than 10 years at the helm of HAH.
Waiākea High School’s new learning lab will convert the existing 9,297-square-foot library space — nearly triple the size of the original Oʻahu site — for an estimated cost of $5.7 million with help from Honolulu-based design firm G70, per HAH. This upgrade from the school’s current portable classroom is expected to be completed by summer of 2027.
Oʻahu’s Farrington High School is the next site slated for HAH's ʻAulama I Ke Ola initiative. Its name means “to light the torch to health and well-being,” according to its website.
Raethel says the initial few will serve as a “showroom” or "proof of concept" to attract more support. HAH’s long-term goal is to launch 30 “best-in-nation” health learning labs across the Islands.
To date, funding for the project has been sourced from the public-private partnership between HAH, DOE and Hawaiʻi 3Rs; the state Legislature, and private and philanthropic donors.
“If we want to strengthen healthcare in Hawaiʻi, we have to start building a homegrown workforce with our local youth,” Gov. Josh Green, who previously worked as a doctor on the Big Island, said in a statement. “Hilo is a rural area where strengthening the healthcare workforce is especially important. Giving Waiākea High School students meaningful hands-on exposure to healthcare careers can inspire them to pursue these fields, continue their education in Hilo — and serve their families and communities.”
DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi adds: “Through partnerships like this, we’re preparing students to be globally competitive and locally committed, with the knowledge and skills to contribute to the communities they call home.”
Janna Hoshide, HAH vice president of workforce development, says the organization serves as “a connective tissue” that helps bridge such partnerships while individually supporting students and employers.
Her approach is “to ensure students can train and get employed in the community they live in and be able to sustainably serve that community.”
Overall, HAH’s healthcare workforce employment programs have helped place more than 400 high school graduates across 19 schools with nearly 30 participating employers right away.
“Over the last few years, we’ve added in new employers who understand the need and can support the students,” Hoshide told ASD.
HAH has been quantifying the state’s demand for non-physician healthcare professions since 2019 through member surveys that contribute to its Healthcare Workforce Initiative Report. Now in its fourth iteration, the 2026 report documented progress from January through June. Most notably, the percentage of job openings decreased from 14% in 2024 to 11% in 2026.
“This continues to build on the decrease in the percentage of openings seen from 2022 to 2024,” the report reads. “There are 3,739 job openings for non-physician healthcare professions in Hawai‘i in 2026, out of 34,001 total positions. This is 930 fewer job openings than in 2024.”
According to this year’s report, the greatest number of open positions were registered nurses at 670 statewide, though, the 2024 report documented 1,019 vacant RN roles. Licensed practical nurse (LPN) vacancies reduced slightly from 242 in 2024 to 186 in 2026.
To help fill that need, Hoshide says HAH plans to launch a pilot "earn and learn" program next year for LPNs transitioning to RNs, after the success of the University of Hawai‘i Maui College’s CNA to LPN initiative, which HAH attributes to more than doubling the local supply of LPNs.
"In the past three years, we've had 120 students graduate from the program. There will be more than 40 more this December," she said.
“The pay increase is even more than 50%; I hope it helps our residents dealing with the state’s high cost of living,” she continued. “Our participants are working parents, even grandparents, who have dreamed of going into nursing. ... It's amazing to see what doors this program opens and how appreciative they are of the opportunity."
Entry-level roles — CNAs, nursing and medical assistants, patient service representatives, psychiatric aides and phlebotomists — accounted for 44% of all job openings and continue to be a priority for high school and middle schoolers, she adds. Imaging professionals like radiologic and ultrasound technologists are also in demand, per the 2026 report.
Sweetie Leslie, a graduate of Waiākea High School and HAH’s CNA to LPN program, said in a statement, “I’m really grateful I had the opportunity to explore healthcare while I was still in high school. It opened my eyes to possibilities I hadn’t considered before."
The report notes that “the vacancy rate for surgical technologists decreased from 16% in 2024 to 8% in 2026, and the vacancy rate for surgical instrument processing technicians decreased from 9% to 7%. The vacancy rates have also decreased for medical assistants (from 13% to 11%) and nurse aides (including certified and non-certified, from 18% to 15%).”
Hoshide says that Kapiʻolani Community College “answered the call to standup” the only in-state sonography program and expand its Radiologic Technology program next year.
“It’s exciting to see the impact of all of these initiatives,” she said of the 2026 Healthcare Workforce Initiative Report findings. “We do want to continue our coordinated approach to expand learning labs and create more glidepaths. I am blessed to have a team that’s very passionate. For us, seeing a student succeed makes it all worthwhile."
Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
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