Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne told a summit of leaders of island communities — U.S. territories and freely associated states — that federal agencies have formed a task force to improve and expand public healthcare and intend to "prioritize their critical needs and multimillion-dollar funding."

The summit on the Future of Health Care in the Insular Areas started Monday at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa and concluded yesterday.

Kempthorne was joined Monday by other senior federal officials, including Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake; David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness; and Dr. Joxel Garcia, assistant secretary for health.

Island officials included Guam Gov. Felix Camacho, Gov. Togiola Tulafono of American Samoa, Hawai'i Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and representatives from the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau.

Kempthorne said that getting everyone together for the summit and task force emphasizes the power of partnership.

Camacho and the other leaders echoed a theme of rising needs and medical staff making do without resources.

And Kempthorne highlighted another concern: Guam's current population of 170,000 is expected to swell with about 40,000 people associated with a military buildup.

By way of comparison, Camacho said, that would be like adding nearly 250,000 people to Hawai'i's 1 million. He would like to see collaboration with universities and hospitals to help train Pacific islanders in the specialties needed.

He said a financial commitment to paying for the students' education could be repaid by years of service.

Camacho said telemedicine, e-mailing of X-rays and other technology can help but that basic resources are still crucial.

He told of a doctor who consulted via e-mail and confirmed a diagnosis of pneumonia, only to be told the consulting medical team "can't even provide a basic antibiotic" to treat the illness.

Kempthorne acknowledged that some basic needs must come first. He said nurses on Chuuk in Micronesia told him that 61 patients went without water for three days because of a lack of generators and a water catchment system.

"That is not acceptable," Kempthorne said. "It has been fixed."

Tulafono said his community has trouble keeping doctors, who find that they can earn $200,000 annually by moving away. "We just simply cannot compete with other medical centers and other hospitals," he said. And that is a problem, especially for veterans and others normally served by a military medical system.

"Our veterans are not being served adequately," Tulafono said. And that's likely to get worse with troops from American Samoa now in a second round of deployment.

Tulafono said the islands are looking for assurance of continued collaboration beyond the conference in Waikiki and beyond the federal and state administrations.

Kempthorne and Peake also announced several funding initiatives, which include: