Plantation medicine in Hawaii 1840 to 1964: a patient's perspective

The first contract laborers arrived from China in 1852, but little attention was paid to their medical needs. In 1886 a physician from Japan arrived to minister to the health and medical needs of the Japanese immigrants. After 1900 most physicians caring for immigrant plantation workers were Western trained from the Mainland. Many advances in medicine were started on plantations such as the second x-ray machine in Hawaii. The 1950s brought rapid changes in plantation medicine with the closing of plantation facilities on Oahu. The author describes her personal experience as a patient in the plantation medical system.