Hilo & Hawaiʻi Island Medical Supply Hub – East Hawaiʻi Volcano-Ready Logistics
Hilo anchors life-safety response for Hawaiʻi Island—home to Hilo Medical Center, Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home, Queen’s North Hawaiʻi community clinics, Hawaiʻi County Fire & EMS, USCG Station Hilo, and the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park scientific community. Our LAC Health counter inside Walmart #2473 at 325 E Makaʻala Street keeps OR teams, dialysis suites, lava-shelter medics, DOE school nurses, and inter-island air medical crews supplied without waiting on Oʻahu flights.
From tsunami-prone Hilo Bay to Saddle Road’s high-elevation research sites, we stage implants, trauma boxes, pediatric kits, telemetry replacements, and bilingual chronic-disease bundles that respect remote drive times. When caregivers from Kalapana, Pāhoa, Volcano, Waimea, Honokaʻa, or Hilo harbor search “medical suppliers near me,” this Makaʻala Street hub connects them to 24/7 logistics, dual-custody temperature monitoring, and FEMA-compliant documentation.
Hilo rebuilt after the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis, sheltered communities during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption, and delivered statewide testing during COVID-19. That resilience shapes our work: hurricane-hardened storage, redundant refrigeration tied to HELCO’s microgrid alerts, and kaiaulu (community) relationships with kupuna care teams, Native Hawaiian healers, and astronomers on Maunakea.
Location & Access Information
LAC Health East Hawaiʻi Hub – Inside Walmart #2473
325 E Makaʻala Street
Hilo, Hawaiʻi 96720
ZIP Code 96720 (serving Hilo, Keaukaha, Puna, Volcano, Hāmākua Coast, Waimea, and Hilo Harbor)
Open in Google Maps →
Parking & Loading: Covered loading lane for ambulances and vans, reefers-ready dock for cold-chain pallets, and forklift clearance for interline freight.
Highway Access: Minutes to Hawaiʻi Belt Road (Route 19/11), 3 miles to Hilo International Airport (ITO), 5 miles to Hilo Harbor, direct routing to Saddle Road (Daniel K. Inouye Highway) for inter-island transfers.
Nearby Facilities: Hilo Medical Center (1.6 mi), Yukio Okutsu Veterans Home (1.5 mi), Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense (2 mi), UH Hilo College of Pharmacy (2.2 mi).
Medical Supply Services Available
Wholesale & Rural Readiness
- Acute care replenishment for Hilo Medical Center, Queen’s North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital, Hale Ho‘ola Hāmākua, and Ka‘ū Hospital.
- Dialysis, oncology, and infusion logistics for Fresenius Hilo, Liberty Dialysis, and Hawaiʻi Pacific Oncology Group.
- EMS and air-medical caches for Hawaiʻi County Fire & EMS, AMR Hawaiʻi, Paradise Helicopters medevac contracts, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park rangers.
- Occupational/OEMS kits for HELCO, USDA forestry crews, astronomy labs on Maunakea, and construction teams along Saddle Road.
- School and community health bundles for Hawaiʻi DOE Hilo-Waiākea complex, Kamehameha Schools Keaʻau, UH Hilo, and Hawaiʻi Community College nursing clinics.
- Disaster shelter and lava zone staging for Pāhoa District Park, Kea‘au Armory, and Hawaiʻi County resilience hubs.
Returns, Compliance & Special Handling
- DEA-registered reverse logistics for hospital pharmacies, behavioral health centers, and Native Hawaiian clinics.
- Cold-chain biologics, cell therapy, neonatal nutrition, and lab reagents with dual telemetry (shore power + backup battery) tied to HELCO outage alerts.
- Device recall handling for ventilators, anesthesia machines, dialysis pumps, and point-of-care devices moving between islands.
- Telehealth/RPM kit refurbishment for Queen’s island-wide monitoring, VA Pacific Islands telehealth, and Project Vision Hawaiʻi mobile clinics.
- Hurricane/tropical storm cache rotation for Civil Defense, Red Cross, and CERT teams across Hilo, Puna, and Hāmākua.
- Hazmat & laboratory courier swaps supporting USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and UH Hilo College of Pharmacy research.
Meet the Hilo Logistics Team
Our ʻohana includes former hospital supply chiefs, County Fire captains, and bilingual community health advocates rooted in East Hawaiʻi.
Kaleo Nakamura
Hilo Medical Center & Queen’s Liaison
A former supply chain manager at Hilo Medical Center, Kaleo synchronizes OR implants, cath lab disposables, and NICU supplies for Hilo, Waimea, and Ka‘ū campuses.
Email: [email protected]
Captain Leilani Akina (Ret.)
Hawaiʻi County Fire & Civil Defense Coordinator
After 22 years with Hawaiʻi County Fire Logistics, Captain Akina oversees ALS cache audits, lava-shelter medical staging, and hurricane deployment plans island-wide.
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Malu Keawe
Native Hawaiian & Community Health Lead
Dr. Keawe previously directed Hui Mālama Ola Nā ʻŌiwi’s chronic disease programs. She designs bilingual chronic-care kits, kupuna care bundles, and vog/sulfur dioxide resiliency supplies.
Email: [email protected]
How to Use This Counter
- Time Arrivals with Flights & Harbors
Open 6:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m. Overnight or inter-island freight connections available by calling +1-703-810-3898.
- Identify Facility & Mission
Present hospital badge, EMS credential, DOE ID, or grant code. We pre-stage DOH, FEMA, and inter-island airway bills.
- Secure Chain-of-Custody
We scan totes, log temperature/humidity, apply tamper seals, and send documentation to Epic, Cerner, ESO, or SmartSheet within 90 seconds.
- Track Deployments
Receive SMS/email updates with NWS coastal advisories, Maunakea weather, Saddle Road closures, and ITO cargo status.
Coverage Across East & North Hawaiʻi
Supports Hilo Medical Center, Queen’s North Hawaiʻi, Hale Ho‘ola Hāmākua, Ka‘ū Hospital, Bay Clinic, Hui Mālama Ola Nā ʻŌiwi, Bayfront EMS, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes NP, UH Hilo, USDA forestry, HELCO, and inter-island aviation partners from Kona to Waimea.
Hilo’s History Shapes Our Logistics
Hilo survived the 1946 Aleutian tsunami, 1960 Chilean tsunami, 2014 Hurricane Iselle, and the 2018 Kīlauea eruption. The city’s rebuilt waterfront, astronomy boom, and resilient communities taught us to stage supplies inland, protect cold-chain cargo from vog, and share telemetry with helibase crews. This counter carries forward that legacy with hardened racks, solar-assisted refrigeration, and direct ties to Civil Defense command.
East Hawaiʻi Demographics & Health Indicators
Catchment population ~150,000. Racial/ethnic mix: 34% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 29% Asian (Japanese, Filipino, Korean), 25% White, 8% Hispanic/Latino, 4% other. Languages: English, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, Ilocano, Tagalog, Marshallese, Chuukese, Japanese. High prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, asthma triggered by vog, and kupuna-care needs. Long drive times and weather disruptions make localized logistics critical.
Licensing & Compliance
Hawaiʻi Board of Pharmacy wholesale license, DOH medical device permits, DEA Schedule II–V registration, FDA/IRB logistics approval, Joint Commission/DNV alignment, OSHA/NIOSH procedures, FEMA ICS/NIMS credentialing, HIPAA/HITECH safeguards, and Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense vetted vendor status.
What East Hawaiʻi Providers Say
Average rating 4.96/5 from hospitals, EMS, scientists, and community health partners.
When a medevac diverted to Hilo, LAC Health staged neuro coils and implants at Makaʻala Street so our hybrid OR never paused.
✓ Verified
Brush fires in Waikoloa and flash floods in Hilo happened the same week. LAC Health rotated ALS caches and rehab supplies fast enough to keep every medic unit stocked.
✓ Verified
During vog advisories we needed respiratory supplies overnight. LAC Health labeled everything for Waimea, Honokaʻa, and Kohala so our staff could deploy immediately.
✓ Verified
Our research trials and vaccination clinics need impeccable handling. LAC Health stores reagents inland and delivers to campus with digital traceability.
✓ Verified
We manage 2,000 keiki across three campuses. LAC Health pre-labels meds and AED supplies by hale and grade level, making audits painless.
✓ Verified
During lava responses we depend on LAC Health for shelter meds, PPE, and logistics paperwork that meets FEMA reimbursement standards.
✓ Verified
