When Jason Kalua began searching for a new healthcare provider, he was looking for something straightforward: a primary care doctor close to home, easy to access and affordable enough to fit real life.
After receiving a recommendation through a local community connection, Kalua scheduled an appointment with Premier Community HealthCare. What he found, he said, exceeded expectations.
“Since then, this has been one of the best medical experiences I’ve had in my life,” Kalua said.
For many patients, choosing a healthcare provider is about more than location alone. Cost, convenience and the overall experience of navigating care can determine whether people get the treatment they need and continue with it. Kalua’s experience reflects how Premier works to reduce those barriers by making care easier to access, easier to afford and easier to navigate.
One of the biggest differences for Kalua has been affordability. He pointed to Premier’s sliding fee scale as a practical example of how access to care can change when costs become manageable.
“One of the main things for Premier is the simplicity and how they really try to help the community and the clients with that sliding scale,” Kalua said. “Medication that would be $1,000 a month drops down to maybe like $24 a month for the same medications.”
Premier’s pharmacy services are supported in part through the 340B Drug Pricing Program, a federal program that allows eligible health centers like Premier to purchase certain outpatient medications at reduced cost. Those savings help expand access to more affordable prescriptions for qualified patients and support services that make care more convenient and easier to navigate, benefits Kalua said have made a meaningful difference in his own experience.
Convenience has also shaped his experience. From the beginning, Kalua said the process felt more streamlined than what he had encountered elsewhere, especially with pharmacy services located on site.
“The best part of it is, when you come in for your appointment, by the time you leave your appointment, your medication is ready because everything’s here on site,” he said.
That combination of convenience and coordination stood out early. Kalua said his first appointment was a telehealth visit, but even then the process moved quickly.
“My first appointment was a Teladoc appointment,” he said. “It was instant. Medication was waiting for me at the pharmacy after a 20-minute phone call.”
Over time, Kalua said, the difference was not just in how care was delivered, but in the results. After years of feeling like his health issues were only being managed with more medication, he said he began to see measurable improvement.
“Since I’ve been at Premier, I’ve dropped three medications that I took for about 15 years straight, and I don’t take them anymore at all,” Kalua said.
Just as important, he said, the atmosphere feels less stressful and more supportive than what he had experienced in other healthcare settings.
“It’s more of a relaxing experience now instead of a stressful doctor visit,” Kalua said.
For Kalua, that is what sets Premier apart. What began as a search for a nearby doctor became, in his words, a healthcare experience he now recommends to others.
“This is one of the best medical experiences I’ve had in my entire lifetime,” he said.