Letters to the Editor

BYO rail seats

I can’t figure out how Ron Nagasawa always gets himself into so much mess. But don’t quit. We love it all and we love Ron.

Now, about the lines and the rail?

No worries, Ron, everybody going bring their own chairs, and when they get into the rail they going sit on their own chairs because no more enough seats for everybody to sit on.

But on the other hand, there may never be any lines at all because everybody decided to drive their own cars.

Now that is where the lines are. Either way, we still sitting.

Wanda Camara, Kaneohe

Ridiculous lines

Having just read Ron Nagasawa’s latest column on standing in lines, especially at city facilities, and what that says about how rail will operate, I want to share a similar experience I had recently when I went to a Satellite City Hall to pay my real estate tax.

The due date was Aug. 20 and I was there on the 16th, a Thursday. I got to the office around 11 a.m., and the line was at least a two-hour wait. So, unaware that Friday was the Admissions Day holiday, I decided to do some errands – after asking the counter person if it was possible for me to just drop off the check and the tax statement, and being told it was not possible.

Knowing the Satellite City Hall closed at 4 p.m., I went back at 3, but the line still snaked out of the swinging doors. Being now aware of the next day being a holiday, I decided to stand in line and just wait. As we were inching into the office, the lady in front of me pointed out the sign that said if you are not by the counter at 4 p.m. you would not be served. So now we were starting to panic, and I was telling myself with my luck I would be the last person in this queue at 4 p.m. and not by the counter. I was just slightly off when 4 o’clock struck, and the lady in front of me and myself and a few others behind me were left in the cold. I again attempted to just drop off my payment but still the woman at the counter refused and suggested I talk to the supervisor.

I told her that their system sucks and that maybe what they should do is make a decision and maybe at a certain point (minutes before 4 p.m.) to close the door and have a policy that whoever is within the cutoff or inside the office to be guaranteed service. She then plainly said that they won’t do that because they refuse to work a single second/minute after 4 p.m. because the city will not pay them any overtime. This is the city of Honolulu for us now, so Mr. Nagasawa is right about what we can expect when that ultra-expensive rail comes into being – which I strongly hope will not.

Just a short comment regarding rail: Why are they building a choo-choo train when there are more advanced technologies regarding rail? Steel on steel? Imagine the noise that would generate. I strongly believe there are more viable and less expensive alternative solutions to Honolulu’s traffic problems.

Kini Olegario, Hawaii Kai

Cardio correction

Regarding the Doctor in the House feature “Attending to Cardiac Health,” I congratulate the staff of the new cardiac rehab program at the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific, and the hospital itself for stepping up to the plate to provide a much-needed Honolulu hospital-based program for heart patients.

I would, however, like to correct the statement made in the article that there have been no cardiac rehab programs in the state for years. I was on the staff of St. Francis’s cardiac rehab in 2001 when it was closed. (Queen’s had closed in 2000.) With the generous help of the Weinberg Foundation in 2001, we were able to open a new program outside the hospital using the same model for cardiac rehab used at St. Francis. At present, Arthur Senining with his physical therapy business, and I with my cardiac rehab business, share a 3,000-square-foot space filled with both cardio (aerobic) machines and weight-resistance machines.

For the last 11 years, I have handled Phase II (acute) patients at very low fees, as well as maintenance patients who want ongoing supervision, education, EKG and blood pressure monitoring. Insured Phase II patients are now referred to the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific.

Other hospitals with cardiac rehab programs include Maui Memorial Hospital with Kim Finney, RN, has been running about two years, and Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kauai is in the beginning stages of offering a program.

Programs in cardiac rehabilitation can and do make a big difference for heart patients!

Penney Sing, M.S., E.P. Director, Cardiac Rehab Hawaii