Our Island,
Our Community,
Our Health
Healthcare is caring for health not treating disease. Only a community can make this paradigm shift.
Community First Founder
The Late Barry Taniguchi
Why Community First?
Barry Taniguchi founded Community First to help our community come together to make this shift and to find solutions based on the common good.
He had 3 Principles:
- Only Together
- Make the Invisible, Visible
- Try, and don’t expect to get it right the first time
Guiding Principles
Only Together
There is no way to transform healthcare & achieve a sutainable system without coming together. If West, North, and East Hawaii come together, we can build a County-wide system of health governed by each community to best address their needs while leveraging information technology and payment models which require scale.
Make the Invisible, Visible
My son Toby once said, “We value harmony more than truth.” Sometimes for the sake of harmony we make the visible invisible in order to get along. But in the long term, harmony can only come from truth so we must make the invisible, visible. Truth is the basis of the trust needed for collaboration and transformation.
Try, and don’t expect to get it right the first time
The house is burning. We need to act, recognizing that we can’t figure it all out through the creation of binders of plans, and that we will need to make adjustments as we move forward. But we will make these adjustments collaboratively and in the best interests of the community. Only by acting can we innovate.
Vision
A community where we not only take personal responsibility for our own health, but help each other care for our mutual well-being.
Mission
A sustainable medical and social service system which provides quality care for all the people of Hawai’i Island.
Want to Help?
Become Involved, Find Solutions
Latest Insights
Three Principles Guide Community First
Community First was launched in 2014 by Barry Taniguchi in response to the growing health care cost crisis facing not only our community, but the country. Its mission is to create a sustainable medical and social service system which provides quality care for all the people of Hawaii Island.
Barry shared three principles to meet this formidable challenge: (1) Only together. (2) Make the invisible visible. (3) Try — and don’t expect to get it right the first time.
It’s been a year since Barry’s death, and Community First, led by president and chairperson Toby Taniguchi, continues the work of being the forum that brings business leaders, medical and social service providers, health plans and community members together.
Our Kuleana Combating COVID-19 on Hawaiʻi Island
Our Kuleana is a community-based effort to mobilize Hawaiʻi Island residents during critical times of need, initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our privilege to be a part of this island’s ʻohana comes with an inherent kuleana, or duty, to our people and place. The devastating impacts of COVID-19 have presented an opportunity for us to fulfill our kuleana to protect and care for each other.