Care In The Comfort Of Home
Elizabeth Gonzalez, R.N., provides highly skilled nursing care for patients in their homes. Coco Zickos photos
By Elizabeth Gonzalez, R.N.
Co-owner of Haumea Home Health
Tell us about your business. What we provide for our community of Kaua’i is highly skilled nursing care in the home with clinical assessments and the ability to do IV infusions. We started out by trying to keep people out of the hospital and bring home those who are not as ill.
The business started in 2009 as a group of nurses who decided that we needed some additional home health influence on island and wanted to serve our community. So we began the process of certification and licensing, and we started accepting patients in December 2010. I’m a registered nurse – ICU and ER. All of the nurses that we employ are ICU and ER nurses, and the co-owner, Mario Lott, is also a psychiatric nurse.
What type of ailments do you treat? Everything from wound care to any kind of IV therapies. We provide general assessments, medication management and we help treat cancer, diabetes, dementia or any kind of chronic illnesses.
Where are you from originally and when did you move to Kaua’i? I’ve been on Kaua’i for about 17 years and am originally from Puerto Rico.
Why do you do what you do? I’ve been a nurse for 30 years in ICU and ER, and it was just time to leave and do something different – leave the hospital
Do you have a motto or philosophy for doing business? We want to provide the best service on Kaua’i for healthcare.
What’s the most challenging aspect of your business? Dealing with the insurance companies. Other than that, I enjoy what I do.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your business? Serving the island of Kaua’i.
How do you measure success? To be able to bring a client home who really wants to come home, and see them be able to attend to their own needs after a process of three to four months of us being there taking care of them. Walking in and seeing them standing up with a smile on their face is so wonderful.
What are your plans for your future? To continue to grow.
What is the biggest ailment on Kaua’i? We have a lot of cardiovascular disease and that could be due to our diabetes and diet.
What is the No. 1 thing a person can do to maintain their health? To stay healthy you need to exercise – at least three times a week for 30 minutes. It’s the most important thing people can do.
What would a healthy diet consist of? Fruits, vegetables, not a whole lot of meat and low carbohydrates.
If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing? I’m an artist, so I would paint. And after I finish this business, I plan to make prints of women on dresses.
Do people heal more effectively outside of the hospital? Anybody does better at home.
www.haumeahealth.com Call 631-1548 or fax referrals to 823-6840.
