bigislandnow.com: https://bigislandnow.com/2026/05/23/bipartisan-measure-would-help-bring-more-doctors-surgeons-to-hawaii-schatz-co-introduces-legislation/

Speaker: —
Subject: B001261
Source: GDELT news · original
Published: Sunday, May 24, 2026

U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz of Hawai‘i, Maria Cantwell of Washington state and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, all Democrats, along with Republicans John Barrasso of Wyoming and Roger Marshall of Kansas together proposed the Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act.

Full text

3,000 chars

Bipartisan measure would help bring more doctors, surgeons to Hawai‘i; Schatz co-introduces legislation : Big Island Now Search Aloha, ! My Profile | Logout Aloha, Guest! Login | Register News Topics Front Page Big Island News Ironman Business Big Island Polls Local Discussion Entertainment Guest Columns Community COVID-19 Updates Hawai‘i Sports Hawai‘i Volcano Blog Ocean Blog Obituaries Weather & Surf Weather Forecast Surf Report Lifestyle & Culture Entertainment Community ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi / Hawaiian Language Hawai‘i Activities Visitors' Guide Merrie Monarch Obituaries Job Listings Recent Job Listings Post a Job Events Calendar Upcoming Events Map of Events Special Sections Merrie Monarch IRONMAN Opioid Crisis &times; Close Menu About Big Island Now Newsletter Contact Us Get the App Advertising Meet the Team Choose Your Island: Kauai Maui Big Island Copyright &copy; 2026 Pacific Media Group All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy | About Our Ads Search Aloha, ! My Profile | Logout Aloha, Guest! Login | Register Sections Big Island News Weather Events Calendar Jobs Obituaries Graduations Entertainment Visitors' Guide Hawai'i State News Bipartisan measure would help bring more doctors, surgeons to Hawai‘i; Schatz co-introduces legislation May 23, 2026, 1:00 PM HST --> Play Listen to this Article 3 minutes Loading Audio... Article will play after ad... Playing in :00 A A A Several lawmakers reached across the aisle at the U.S. Senate to introduce bipartisan legislation that would produce high-quality data about where general surgeons are in short supply throughout the country — including Hawai‘i. U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz of Hawai‘i, Maria Cantwell of Washington state and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, all Democrats, along with Republicans John Barrasso of Wyoming and Roger Marshall of Kansas together proposed the Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act. Hawai‘i Democrat U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz speaks on the U.S. Senate floor during a past floor debate. (File Image: Screenshot from video) It comes at a particularly critical time in the Aloha State. “We have a doctor shortage crisis in Hawai‘i, and it’s having a real impact on families living in hard-to-reach areas across the state,” said Schatz in a press release about the new legislation. “Our bill will help us better understand where the shortages exist so that we can work to bring more doctors and surgeons to the communities that need them most.” The need for general surgeons is especially high in rural and other underserved communities. There is a 14% shortage of surgeons in Hawai‘i overall. Hawai‘i Island alone has a 40% shortage, forcing many residents to travel off-island to get care they need. “Access to a sufficient number of general surgeons is literally a matter of life or death for the residents living in rural areas of the state of Hawai‘i, especially the 30% of the population that live on islands separated by the ocean from the urban population center of Honolulu,&#8221; said Hawai‘i Health Systems

More on this subject (8)

Mentioned in /ask threads

pac.dog is a free, independent, non-partisan research tool. Every candidate, committee, bill, vote, member, and nonprofit on this site is mirrored from primary U.S. government sources (FEC, congress.gov, govinfo.gov, IRS) and each state's Secretary of State / election commission — no third-party data vendors, no paywall, no editorial intermediation. Citations to the originating source are on every detail page.