Burn Services
Service Overview
Burns can range in severity from minor to life-threatening.
Burn injuries may be evaluated and treated by care teams in Urgent Care, Emergency Departments or primary care settings across Hawaiʻi Pacific Health. Serious or complex burns are treated by the specialized Burn Care Unit at Straub Benioff Medical Center.
The Straub Benioff Burn Care Unit offers the highly specialized services and multi-specialty team approach that severe burns require. Since burns can affect many functions and systems of the body, we design each treatment and rehabilitation to meet the patient’s unique needs.
Our goal is to help each patient achieve their highest level of recovery and quality of life, with clinical support and care each step of the way.
General Conditions & Treatments
- Thermal burns caused by skin coming into contact with any heat source.
- Electrical burns caused by contact with electricity.
- Chemical burns caused by contact with, or ingestion of, strong acids or alkalis.
- Necrotizing fasciitis, a bacterial infection also known as flesh-eating disease.
- Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), a rare, life-threatening skin condition.
- Other severe skin diseases.
- Severe skin abrasions including road rash.
- Any condition that requires skin grafting.
Care at Kapiʻolani
Patients with burn injuries are evaluated and treated by experienced physicians at Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children. Care is coordinated with the Burn Care Unit at Straub Benioff Medical Center when advanced burn services are required.
Care at Pali Momi
Patients with burn injuries are evaluated and treated by experienced physicians at Pali Momi Medical Center. Care is coordinated with the Burn Care Unit at Straub Benioff Medical Center when advanced burn services are required.
Care at Straub Benioff
Since its inception, the Straub Benioff Burn Care Unit has treated more than 2,000 patients admitted for lifesaving and limb-preserving procedures. Each year the unit provides state-of-the-art burn care, intricate wound assessment and other specialized treatment.
Established in 1983 under the leadership of Drs. Robert Schulz and James Penoff, the Burn Care Unit remains the only burn unit in the state of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region.
Patients in the Burn Care Unit receive outstanding personalized attention, delivered through our multidisciplinary team approach.
Burn Care Unit Medical Director and Cofounder Dr. Robert W. Schulz is joined by Drs. David Cho and Michael Pharaon, who all are certified by the American Burn Association.
Additionally, a majority of providers who work in the Burn Care Unit, as well as in our Intensive Care Unit, are certified in Advanced Burn Life Support (ABLS). Many of our nurses and physicians are also ABLS instructors. These designations allow them the ability to provide burn care training to other clinical staff at Straub Benioff as well as other hospitals in the state of Hawaiʻi and beyond.
In addition to this core medical staff, other specialists who are part of a patient’s recovery plan may include:
- Specialized nursing staff
- Operating room nurses and technicians
- Physical and occupational therapists
- Social workers
- Psychologists and behavioral health specialists
- Vocational rehabilitation therapists
- Dermatologists
- Dietitians
- Ophthalmologists
- Pharmacists
- Case managers
- Palliative care specialists
- Chaplains
Straub Benioff provides seamless coordination of these services in order to provide the best patient experience possible, from the initial acute setting to outpatient rehabilitation and long-term follow-up care.
The Straub Benioff Burn Care Unit is a member of the Western Region Burn Disaster Consortium, which was created by the American Burn Association as part of its national disaster response plan to manage regional burn surge capabilities in the event of mass casualty incidents. As the only Hawaiʻi member of the consortium, the Burn Care Unit serves as the liaison with other burn units and centers in the region to coordinate resources and support for burn patients in Hawaiʻi.
The Burn Care Unit at Straub Benioff: 1-808-522-3577
Care at Wilcox
Patients with burn injuries are evaluated and treated by experienced physicians at Wilcox Medical Center and clinics. Care is coordinated with the Burn Care Unit at Straub Benioff Medical Center when advanced burn services are required.