Inspire 2016 FALL

Pali Momi: A Sign of Commitment

Walk into the main entrance of the Pali Momi Medical Center and you may notice something new. A sign now designates the area the Clyde and Holly Kaneshiro Lobby. The Kaneshiros have never been treated there, but the lifesaving care of a close friend at Pali Momi changed their lives and inspired them to give.

Clyde and Harold Nakabayashi work together at Honolulu Disposal Service. They are more than just coworkers. Clyde’s father, Hideo, asked Harold to join his company 40 years ago and in the decades since, the Kaneshiros and Nakabayashis have become ohana. So when Harold was rushed to the emergency room, it hit both homes hard.

“I went to work but I couldn’t make it through the day,” Harold recalled. “I came home and told my wife it’s time to go to the hospital.”

Harold was admitted to Pali Momi. His condition worsened.

“They didn’t know if I was going to make it,” he said. “It was like ‘All hands on deck.’ All of these doctors and nurses were trying to decide what was wrong with me.”

His wife, Rita, remembers one frightening moment when he stopped responding. She rushed to his side.

“I held his face to mine and said, ‘You can’t leave yet,’” she said. “He kind of came out of it. That’s when we found out he had congestive heart failure.”

Harold was treated at Pali Momi’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab—the only such unit in Central and West Oahu—and eventually had to undergo heart surgery. Every test, every procedure there helped Harold toward his second chance at life.

“The key step is we had a good cardiac ultrasound team that was able to get the right picture of the heart valve and measure the right pressures so we could make the accurate diagnosis,” said Harold’s cardiologist, Dr. Abhijeet Koli. “[Harold’s recovery] is just reaffirming to us, that this is why we do what we do. We have a great team and a great group of doctors that are as good as any place in the country at performing these procedures.”

Clyde and Holly visited Harold at Pali Momi and continued to check in with him throughout his recovery. In honor of the care he received, the Kaneshiro family gave Pali Momi a monetary donation to help the hospital continue its mission to serve the community.

“This experience reminded us that life is fragile and we need to support the medical needs of Pali Momi to give people, like our dear friend Harold, every chance to live life to the fullest,” Clyde said.

Harold has recovered and continues to work with Clyde. But now he definitely makes his health a top priority.  “Who would ever think that something like this could happen so suddenly,” said Rita.

About the Heart Care Fund

Donations to Pali Momi’s Heart Care Fund help provide a full range of services in adult cardiology including technical procedures to open arteries, treat and prevent heart attacks and relieve chest pain. Pali Momi offers the only interventional cardiac catheterization lab and the only certified primary stroke center in Central and West Oahu.