Governor Josh Green, M.D.

Photo courtesy: DHS

“Doing the right things in the right way at the right time.” This is what Hawai‘i Medicaid Director Judy Mohr Peterson said when she used the word “pono” to describe her team as it received the annual Spotlight Award given by the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD). This distinction is awarded to states that demonstrate the best of Medicaid leadership and illuminate the path forward toward continuous improvement for the program. 

NAMD recognized the Hawai‘i Medicaid/Med-QUEST (MQD) team for its dedication and selflessness in response to the Maui Wildfires with a powerful intention to help the community. The team mobilized immediately and responded on both a human level, by volunteering, donating, and organizing relief efforts, with values rooted deeply in the community.   

At the Medicaid program level, the team immediately suspended eligibility renewal efforts on Maui and assured distraught community members that they hadn’t lost their health insurance to the fires. In addition to suspending the renewal process, while in Lahaina, the MQD team members also asked each person they served if they had health insurance and in many instances, they were able to sign up individuals and families on-site.

All of this was done while several Med-QUEST staff members had to deal with personal impacts from the fire, both mentally and emotionally, while managing services for other survivors. Tragically, some members of the team were also dealing with the loss of family members and property. Even though team members faced many challenges, they were grounded by their mission and vision to embrace health and wellness for the people of Hawai‘i.

The MQD team was selected for the Spotlight Award because of its intentionality and teamwork. Members spent years cultivating relationships with each other and other key partners, such as community-based organizations. These long-lasting relationships allowed the team to form a high-functioning, cross-disciplinary leadership team and without asking, the community-based organizations joined the effort with the MQD team to respond to the wildfires on Maui. The state is grateful to all the hardworking MQD staff members for doing what is pono for our Maui community.