The above Photo credit: St. Jude’s Episcopal Church. St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Hawaiian Ocean View on Hawai‘i’s Big Island permanently houses a medical van on its campus that’s operated by the Hawai‘i Community Health Center system.
[Episcopal News Service] For the 3,800 or so residents of rural Hawaiian Ocean View – more commonly called Ocean View – on the southern side of Hawai‘i’s Big Island, St. Jude’s Episcopal Church is not just a church, but a community center that helps address the region’s unique challenges, like accessing fresh water and health care.
Soon, St. Jude’s will house a medical van permanently on its campus, where staff from the Hawai‘i Community Health Center system will offer physicals and treatment of minor medical ailments for anyone in need of routine health services.
“Accessing medical services in Ocean View is very difficult,” Karen Pucci, junior warden of St. Jude’s, told Episcopal News Service. “The closest medical service to Ocean View is in Naalehu, and you have to belong to their program.”
The medical van’s interior includes two exam rooms, a waiting area and a bathroom. Once it begins operating, a septic tank pumping service company will periodically empty the van’s septic tank. About six patients can be inside the van at a time.
The Rev. Lester Mackenzie, The Episcopal Church’s chief of mission, spent July fulfilling clerical duties at St. Jude’s, which is lay-operated. Visiting clergy take turns serving the parish throughout the year, following a schedule that is booked through 2030.
While in Ocean View, Mackenzie blessed the medical van with holy water, centering his prayer on making the van “a vehicle of compassion” that’s always welcoming and operated by “agents of grace and love.”
“Even at tiny St. Judes’s on the Big Island, the spirit is always moving. … The people who run the church are all leaders who just love their community,” Mackenzie told ENS.
The medical van is expected to open in August. It will operate at the same time as St. Jude’s hot shower ministry, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Pucci said the ministry is necessary because the southern Big Island is experiencing a fresh water shortage, especially in areas that rely on rainfall and rainwater catchment systems, like much of Ocean View. Because there’s no county or city water system, Ocean View residents rely on having fresh water hauled in by trucks, though not everyone can afford the service.
The hot shower ministry is free and open to everyone. On Wednesdays, those who shower at St. Jude’s will also receive a free sack lunch. On Saturdays, St. Jude’s offers a hot meal service that’s open to the public, including people who didn’t use the shower service.
“A lot of the time, it’s the only hot meal many people will get all week,” Pucci said. “St. Jude’s is very small, about 25 people at worship, but we’re slowly expanding our services to meet people’s needs. …We even offer free Wi-Fi and charging stations, and a lot of people come in for that service, too.”
In Ocean View – which includes the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates, the largest subdivision in the United states – the median household income is $45,917 as of 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That number is below the national median, $77,719. Even though the state of Hawai‘i has a lower overall poverty rate than the mainland United States, Ocean View has a higher poverty rate because of the high cost of living, limited infrastructure and limited economic opportunities. The reliance on freshwater delivery and personal generators to run electricity adds to the high living costs. Grocery store prices are also much higher in Hawai‘i than the mainland United States because most foods have to be shipped to the islands.
Despite the living challenges on the Big Island, especially in Ocean View, Mackenzie said the Big Island is “special” to him because “it feels so alive and powerful here.”
“The Diocese of Hawai‘i and Guam and Saipan are unique because they are a sacramental presence in the middle of the Pacific Ocean,” Mackenzie said. “I appreciate the ministries here. …When you’re at St. Jude’s, a small church that stands on lava rock on the edge of the world, you feel the good work they’re doing here, and the spirit is with them.”
-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.