First urology specialist in a decade opens shop in Kona

“I finished my urology residency in 2009, and after graduation, did a three year stint in the Navy — the last year in Afghanistan,” Palmgren recalled. “My wife, who was a Navy nurse, said it was time to get out, so we started a practice in Oregon.”

When they knew it was time for a change, they considered Kona since they previously vacationed here. Even though Alii Health was not actively recruiting a urologist, Palmgren approached executive director Clayton McGhan to see if he was interested in having him join their team.

“He (McGhan) told me about his vision for Alii, bringing good quality specialty care to Kona, without people having to travel. We wanted to go somewhere where we could make a change and make a difference. We looked at mission trips and third-world places, but after talking to (McGhan) we saw the need and knew we could do a lot of good here.”

Palmgren has three daughters, ages 3, 5 and 15.

His practice has been booming. His first referrals came from physicians in Honolulu who were treating West Hawaii men. “My family really pushed the idea of coming to Hawaii. The community atmosphere is something we really wanted to raise our kids in,” he said. “We wanted them to be outdoorsy. We are into surfing and fishing and we are outside all the time, so this really fit for us.”

“We got flooded with all of those referrals and I’m seeing how much disease and how much people have been putting off urology health care for a while,” he said after only working for eight weeks.

He is also doing outreach, educating primary care providers in some of the things they can do.

“Now we are already booked into December and are already talking about expansion,” Palmgren said. He added they are hoping to add another urologist and perhaps a physician assistant in the future.

“You’re dealing with men and multiple different cultures and a lot of times, urinary symptoms are something people just don’t talk about,” he explained. “I always congratulate the guys who come in, usually by the urging of their wives, eventually they come in but for a good portion of them, I wish they would have come in a lot sooner.”

He explained that a lot of men start having the problem of frequency of urination, start seeing a lot of urgency to get to the bathroom and getting up several times throughout the night with a weak stream and think it’s just part of aging.

“I want people to know when you start having those symptoms, don’t wait. Talk to your primary doctor and see what your options are because when we are talking about urinary symptoms you can have things as bad as prostate cancer, but benign enlargement of the prostate (BPH) is far more common,” he stated. “The sooner you can get treatment for cancer or an enlarged prostate the easier the treatments are and the impacts on your life is so much better.”

He said if left untreated, patients could start getting bladder damage, become susceptible to infections, develop stones and advance to kidney damage.

“I recommend routine check-ups sooner than later,” he said.

“I finished my urology residency in 2009, and after graduation, did a three year stint in the Navy — the last year in Afghanistan,” Palmgren recalled. “My wife, who was a Navy nurse, said it was time to get out, so we started a practice in Oregon.”

When they knew it was time for a change, they considered Kona since they previously vacationed here. Even though Alii Health was not actively recruiting a urologist, Palmgren approached executive director Clayton McGhan to see if he was interested in having him join their team.

“He (McGhan) told me about his vision for Alii, bringing good quality specialty care to Kona, without people having to travel. We wanted to go somewhere where we could make a change and make a difference. We looked at mission trips and third-world places, but after talking to (McGhan) we saw the need and knew we could do a lot of good here.”

Palmgren has three daughters, ages 3, 5 and 15.

“My family really pushed the idea of coming to Hawaii. The community atmosphere is something we really wanted to raise our kids in,” he said. “We wanted them to be outdoorsy. We are into surfing and fishing and we are outside all the time, so this really fit for us.”

His practice has been booming. His first referrals came from physicians in Honolulu who were treating West Hawaii men.

“We got flooded with all of those referrals and I’m seeing how much disease and how much people have been putting off urology health care for a while,” he said after only working for eight weeks.

He is also doing outreach, educating primary care providers in some of the things they can do.

“Now we are already booked into December and are already talking about expansion,” Palmgren said. He added they are hoping to add another urologist and perhaps a physician assistant in the future.

“You’re dealing with men and multiple different cultures and a lot of times, urinary symptoms are something people just don’t talk about,” he explained. “I always congratulate the guys who come in, usually by the urging of their wives, eventually they come in but for a good portion of them, I wish they would have come in a lot sooner.”

He explained that a lot of men start having the problem of frequency of urination, start seeing a lot of urgency to get to the bathroom and getting up several times throughout the night with a weak stream and think it’s just part of aging.

“I want people to know when you start having those symptoms, don’t wait. Talk to your primary doctor and see what your options are because when we are talking about urinary symptoms you can have things as bad as prostate cancer, but benign enlargement of the prostate (BPH) is far more common,” he stated. “The sooner you can get treatment for cancer or an enlarged prostate the easier the treatments are and the impacts on your life is so much better.”

He said if left untreated, patients could start getting bladder damage, become susceptible to infections, develop stones and advance to kidney damage.

“I recommend routine check-ups sooner than later,” he said.

Palmgren is the only urologist on the island to use the Urolift, a minimally invasive treatment for enlarged prostates. Performed as a same-day outpatient procedure, including the office setting under local anesthesia. The length of the procedure varies based on the patient’s anatomy and number of prostatic implants required. It is a proven, minimally invasive approach to treating enlarged prostate that may allow men to get off BPH medications and avoid major surgery. Patients can experience rapid symptom relief, recover from the procedure quickly, and return to their normal routines with minimal downtime, patients can return to normal activity in days.

“Since coming to Kona, the outreach and welcoming from the community has been amazing,” he said.