Ke Ola Mamo: Life of the Descendents
Ke Ola Mamo is Oʻahu’s Native Hawaiian Health Care System, committed to improving the health of our island one ‘ohana at a time. While we center Native Hawaiian well-being, our care is open to the entire Oʻahu community.
We take a whole-person approach, blending medical and primary care with traditional healing practices like lomilomi, hula, and more. Native Hawaiians continue to face higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer—but to us, these aren’t just statistics. They’re a call to action.
At Ke Ola Mamo, we understand that health is inseparable from culture, history, and community. Every program we offer honors that connection and helps build a stronger, healthier future for all.
Our Moʻolelo:
The Roots of Ke Ola Mamo
Ke Ola Mamo was born from a call to action. In 1985, E Ola Mau, the first comprehensive Native Hawaiian Health Needs Assessment, documented what our families already knew: Native Hawaiians faced the highest rates of illness and death in our own homeland. Care was often delayed because services were out of reach, our people were less likely to receive screenings and preventive care, and too few Native Hawaiians were working in the health professions.
Hawaiian health leaders, among them Dr. Richard Kekuni Blaisdell, carried these findings to Washington. In 1988, Congress passed the Native Hawaiian Health Care Act, establishing Papa Ola Lōkahi and a Native Hawaiian Health Care System for each island community. The Act was reauthorized in 1992 as the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act, which names Ke Ola Mamo as the Native Hawaiian Health Care System for the island of Oʻahu, home to the largest Native Hawaiian population in the state.
In 1995, Ke Ola Mamo opened its doors with a clear purpose: to remove barriers to health care and improve the health and well-being of Native Hawaiians and their ʻohana on Oʻahu. Before serving a single client, KOM's founders listened to the community, and what they heard shaped a system rooted in Hawaiian values and built around the needs of four distinct communities: Koʻolaupoko, Koʻolauloa, Waiʻanae and urban Honolulu.
From those beginnings, Ke Ola Mamo has grown to offer primary care, behavioral health, case management and patient navigation, outreach and enrollment assistance, dental referrals, healthy lifestyle programs and traditional healing, including lomilomi. Through it all, our guiding commitment has stayed the same: health care that honors who we are as Kānaka Maoli, delivered by people who care about our communities as their own.
Snippet of KOM board members Claire and Analika sharing the beginnings of the Ke Ola Mamo movement.
“He Ola ka Pōhaku”
Our logo is inspired by the saying , he ola ka pōhaku—”there is life in the stone.”
The three stacked stones represent kahua, symbolizing the building of a strong, solid foundation. From within these stones emerges a figure holding a pōhaku ku‘i ‘ai (stone poi pounder), a powerful image of sustenance, nourishment, and health. This emblem embodies the belief that by caring for ourselves, we lay the foundation for a stronger, healthier community. It reflects our mission to empower, educate, and promote the well-being of the Native Hawaiian people, ensuring that the strength of our culture continues to thrive.
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We believe in a healthy lahui. That a strong foundation of good health can help Native Hawaiians thrive.
Hilinaʻi mākou i ke olakino o ka lāhui. ʻO ke olakino maikaʻi ke kahua ʻonipaʻa no ka ulu pono o nā Kānaka Maoli.
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We believe in the power of healing. Our bodies. Our minds. Our spirits. Uplifting lives with accessible, quality care.
Hilinaʻi mākou i ka mana o ka hoʻōla ʻana. No ko kākou mau kino. No ko kākou mau naʻau. No ko kākou mau ʻuhane. E kākoʻo ʻia ke ola pono ma o ka lapaʻau maikaʻi.
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We believe in empowerment. Because for our people to flourish, we must take the well-being of our keiki and kupuna into our own hands.
Hilinaʻi mākou i ka hoʻomana ʻana. No ka ulu pono o ka lāhui, pono kākou e mālama i ke olakino o nā keiki a me nā kūpuna, no kākou iho.
Nā Lei Hulu No Ke Ola Mamo
A lei hulu, a lei of finely gathered feathers, was among the most treasured adornments in old Hawaiʻi. Each feather was collected with patience and bound with care, and the finished lei was reserved for those of the highest honor. Like the feathers of a lei hulu, our kūpuna are precious. Their knowledge, gathered over a lifetime and handed down through generations, is a treasure we are entrusted to protect.
Nā Lei Hulu No Ke Ola Mamo is the Kupuna Council of Ke Ola Mamo. It is one of the Kupuna Councils recognized by Papa Ola Lōkahi, whose councils across the islands represent traditional Hawaiian healing practices including hoʻoponopono, lāʻau kāhea, lāʻau lapaʻau and lomilomi.
The council is an integral part of Ke Ola Mamo. Its members serve as cultural advisors and guides, grounding our programs and services in the values, protocols and wisdom of our kūpuna. Through their counsel, Ke Ola Mamo ensures that health care for Native Hawaiians on Oʻahu honors the whole person, body, mind and spirit, as our ancestors understood it.
Nā Lei Hulu No Ke Ola Mamo is committed to:
Perpetuating traditional Hawaiian healing practices, cultural traditions and ʻike kupuna (ancestral knowledge) for future generations
Protecting the integrity of these practices so they are respected, practiced appropriately and passed down in the right way
Guiding Ke Ola Mamo so that our services reflect Hawaiian values and remain meaningful to the communities we serve
Connecting our ʻohana and communities with kūpuna, cultural practitioners and the healing traditions that have sustained our people for generations
For the communities of Koʻolaupoko, Koʻolauloa, Waiʻanae and urban Honolulu, the council is a living link between ancestral wisdom and present-day well-being, a reminder that healing begins with knowing who we are and where we come from.
Committee Chair: Momi Lovell