A Modern Approach to Healthcare
Empowering Your Health & Vitality for Life.
Meet Your Practitioner
November 2020, I was invited to Kauai for an internship with Dr. Rogoff at Hale Le’a Family Practice, and by December of that year, I began providing physical assessments required for medical cannabis certification with Dr. Baiko at Hawaii Compassionate Care. By June 2021, I was ready to pursue my dream of opening my own concierge, home-visit-based practice, Olakino Family Practice, offering the community an alternative approach to health and wellness.
In my first year of practice, I helped over 600 people on the island, and I soon began the process of expanding my services to accept most health insurance. I opened an office in Lihue and started seeing more patients through word of mouth. However, a year and a half later, I realized that health insurance not only fails patients in many ways but also doesn’t fairly compensate providers. This led me to rebrand my practice as Olakino Wellness Center, where I offer a wide range of services that go beyond traditional primary care—many of which are not covered by insurance or commonly found on Kaua’i.
Even so, I still aim to make healthcare accessible to as many people as possible through my affordable Clinic by the Minute service, ensuring that everyone can receive the care they deserve, regardless of their financial situation.
While completing my Master’s in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner program at DeSales University, I was also immersed in Comprehensive Yoga Therapy, which uses the principles and practices of yoga to foster health and well-being. This therapeutic relationship includes personalized assessments, goal-setting, lifestyle management, and yoga practices. Though I no longer actively practice yoga, I continue to integrate its core philosophies into my patient care, empowering individuals to deepen their understanding of their bodies and overall wellness.
My 1,000-hour Comprehensive Yoga Therapy training at YogaLife Institute provided me with a wealth of knowledge in holistic lifestyle practices, nutrition, and physical fitness—wisdom not typically taught in Western allopathic medicine. Certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists, I’ve learned to help individuals gain an experiential understanding of their challenges and “dis-eases” from a physical, psychological, and spiritual perspective. This enables them to live healthier lives, reduce stress and anxiety, and find balance in their work, relationships, and personal well-being.
As a Family Nurse Practitioner, certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and licensed with prescriptive authority in the state of Hawaii, I focus on preventing disease, managing chronic conditions, and addressing illness through a multi-dimensional approach—healing the body, mind, and spirit. During my time at DeSales University, I specialized in non-communicable chronic diseases (such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, malnutrition, etc.) and integrated my yoga training into my work, bringing a holistic and educational approach to patient care.
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Coming from Easton, PA, I am a US Army Veteran, having joined the Army after 9/11 happened my senior year of high school, and serving as a Russian Cryptolinguist. After a series of unfortunate events, I started developing undiagnosable medical issues and received an honorable medical discharge shortly after serving two years. Little did I know at the time that this would be the start of the 18 year journey that led to me opening my own private family practice to serve the people on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i. I am able to empathize with my patients that do not understand what is happening in their bodies, because I was once one of them.
When I was 21 years old as a Communication, Arts, and Sciences major at Penn State, I was misdiagnosed with lymphoma, and told that I needed to cancel my study abroad to Russia because I would need to start chemotherapy, only to be told a year later that “everyone has enlarged lymph nodes”, and prescribed antidepressants. Thankfully the economy collapsed after I graduated, and after not being able to find a good job a year later I decided to go back to school to for a second accelerated Bachelor’s degree at DeSales University to become a Registered Nurse, so that I could have some clue as to what these doctors were telling me and what was happening in my body. It wasn’t until I was selling my home in Easton, while in my final year of graduate school at DeSales University as a Family Nurse Practitioner to be able to move out to Kauai, that I found my original operation report and saw that my removed lymph node had Cytomegalovirus, a form of mono, something that does not require a second operation nor diagnosis of lymphoma, as I had just learned that it is typical for lymph nodes to remain enlarged for 3-6 months. But none of the doctors I had seen over the years ever took the time to explain that to me. They would just do a ton of tests and then prescribe me antidepressants.
This treatment has given me the greatest passion to spend time with my patients and listen to their concerns and work with them to understand their health and how to live a higher quality of life through understanding healthy lifestyle choices like diet, exercise, and faith. It is unfortunate that our health insurance providers do not realize and value this same type of quality care, and do not pay for this service. I am a strong believer in mutual patient-provider decisions, and I will never force a medical treatment or procedure on you, because I didn’t like that happening to me.
After passing my Family Nurse Practitioner board exam, I secured an internship out here on Kauai and packed three suitcases and took a leap of faith knowing that I was not going back to PA. I love my life out here in Kauai, and I could not imagine myself living anywhere else. I love all things outdoors here including camping in Kalalau, going to the beach, hiking with the most spectacular views, and I am hoping that this season I will get better at surfing. I am a dog mom to Michelangelo Gabanna, my Pomeranian office dog you will see at your appointment. I am a devout Christian anchored in the Word. And I am a patriot and a believer in freedom, autonomy, and the pursuit of happiness.