Q. For those not familiar with Manakai O Malama, can you give some details about its history and mission?

A. Manakai O Malama Integrative Healthcare Group and Rehabilitation Center was formed in June 2002, and since that time, we've seen about 70,000 patient visits. We've been very busy, and growing all the time. It's mission is to bring together the best of modern medicine and traditional healing arts to the benefit of our patients. It's really with the idea that not all the knowledge to treat any given condition is found in one specialty or in one healthcare system. In many ways, integrative medicine is just a bigger tool set. We're not cutting the corners on conventional medicine, which has so much to offer. To that we add acupuncture, manual therapies and many other tools.

Q. Do you think people in Hawai'i are more receptive to this approach to medicine than on the Mainland?

A. We often get that question. I think certainly there are many ethnic traditions, particularly from Asia and Polynesia, that are more accustomed to some of the services that we provide. However, I think that there really is a demonstrated interest throughout the country and throughout the West in a lot of the services that we're offering.

Q. What are some of the differences between modern medicine and traditional healing arts?

A. Modern medicine we really regard more as high-tech. Modern medicine is surgery, medication, physical therapy, and certainly there is psychotherapy. But we really tend to be more problem-focused with integrative medicine. And sometimes to an extreme where, as Michel Foucault in "The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception" stated, at some point, the patient actually can become an accident to which the disease is attached. In contrast, when we look at integrative medicine, we're looking at the patient as a whole. We're looking at the patients as a social being. We're looking at personal beliefs, cultural beliefs, what's going on at home and at work. As well as the biochemistry and the metabolic aspects of the patient.

Q. Why do you think there is a reluctance on the part of some people to embrace traditional medicine?

A. We're just not seeing much resistance these days. We're receiving all kinds of referrals from neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, primary care medicine, internists, as well as word of mouth. I think to the extent that there is still resistance in some corners, I think it's just lack of knowledge and possibly fear of the unknown.

Q. You've studied Tibetan medicine in Nepal and India, and have training in traditional Chinese medicine. What sparked your interest in these areas?

A. I grew up in West L.A. I graduated high school a bit early and went to Tel Aviv University for a year. I was supposed to go back to UC-Berkeley, and I just felt that there was more out there than I had ever seen in my upbringing in the West. So I just had a hankering so I traveled overland to India to see what I could find.

Q. How did you end up in Hawai'i?

A. Growing up in L.A. in the '70s — it was probably the smoggiest city, trumped only by Mexico City at times. And I just vowed to myself to live in a place that had clean air and clean water and had a natural and well-preserved environment. That's the first reason. The other reason is that I never felt comfortable living in a homogeneous society, and to me, to live were no culture has a majority, no race has a majority, where there is such a rich exchange of ideas and information and views, to me is the most exciting and interesting place to live.

Q. What's the size of the staff at Manakai O Malama?

A. The way I think of it, I've got to make sure I get dinner for 100 people on the table every night. That includes staff and their families. We have about 30 staff, about half in the clinical services and half in other aspects of administration.

Q. With the economy doing so well and unemployment so low, are you having difficulty hiring qualified staff?

A. The good news is that we're not manufacturing widgets, and because what we do is so unique, we find that there are certain people that are just drawn to this kind of corporate culture, this type of clinic culture. So the right people seem to arrive at the right time. Another thing that goes with doing something that's unique is you don't really have any competition. The limitations of integrative medicine are just the size of the market, which is very different from fighting for market share in the bridal industry, for example.

Q. Coming from a background in medicine, did you find it difficult to make the transition into the business world?

A. I think that both medicine and business have a very linear, sort of scientific, quantitative side. And they both have a very human-focused side. You have to study statistics in both places, and you have to understand what's going on in another person's mind in both fields. So I actually found them synergistic.

Q. How do you motivate your employees and get them to operate at their optimum level?

A. Because what we do is unique, a big part of the challenge is cultivating the team. It's not something that's just done once and it's over. We meet every Tuesday for lunch, and we're continuing to educate, continuing to share, solve problems and cultivate that synergy we're after.