Nicolas A Nelken, MD
I speak: English
My gender: Male
Referral required.
Where I practice
- Emergency service
- Urgent care services
- After-hours services
- Pharmacy services
- No emergency services
- No urgent care services
- No after-hours services
- No pharmacy services
About me
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, but was drawn to Northern California. At the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) I had an academic practice, followed by seven years in private practice in Los Angeles, but found private practice too insular and not systems-oriented enough. When Peter Schneider, a Hawaii Permanente Medical Group (HPMG) surgeon with whom I trained, invited me to Hawaii in 2003 I gladly accepted the opportunity. I have a wife and two children. My son is attending the University of Southern California and my daughter is at the Mid-Pacific Institute.
About my practice
I was drawn to surgery at a very young age. I enjoy my surgical practice because it provides a mix of intense focus, “right-brained” creativity, technical excellence, and patient care. Nowhere else in medicine does one solve problems so directly.My care philosophy is that prevention comes first. There are usually many things that patients can do for themselves to avoid surgery. I start with this in mind. If surgery is necessary, I perform the most up-to-date, evidence-based interventions possible. The less invasive the better, though sometimes big operations are unavoidable. The exam room is our place to communicate on a deep and profound level. This is the most important place to connect. I welcome family and other support in the room if my patients and their families so choose. Kaiser Permanente offers an amazing mix of practice and systems-oriented medicine. It is truly evidence-based. We have a very large population to draw information from when you take into consideration all nine million patients in the Kaiser Permanente system.At UCSF I used to run a molecular biology facility, and was also the chief of vascular surgery at San Francisco General Hospital. At HPMG, in addition to my role as surgeon, I am head of the vascular lab and the physician champion for smoking cessation for the region. I am on the physicians group for the Computerized Electronic Medical Record, and run a fellowship program for surgeons who wish to train in endovascular techniques.For the last seven years, I have been on the organizing committee for the Kaiser Permanente National Surgical Symposium and also help organize the Hawaii Vascular Symposium that occurs every two years on Oahu.
How I thrive
I enjoy riding my bicycle, body surfing, playing piano and doing pastel painting. I also like to spend time with family and friends where I am not "the doctor." I feel good living in Hawaii. With its multi-ethnic, gentle, amiable culture Hawaii is a wonderful place to live.
My office
Referral requirements
You need a referral to see this provider.Languages spoken by medical staff
Help is available in your language. Learn more.
Medical groups & plans
Hawaii Permanente Medical Group
- HMO
- Medicaid (QUEST)
- Senior Advantage
Contact information
- 24-hour pharmacy
- 808-643-7979
- 24-hour prescription refill
- 808-643-7979
- 24/7 Advice (Hawaii Island)
- 1-833-833-3333 (toll free)
- 24/7 Advice (Kauai)
- 1-833-833-3333 (toll free)
- 24/7 Advice (Maui)
- 1-833-833-3333 (toll free)
- 24/7 Advice (Oahu)
- 1-833-833-3333 (toll free)
- Clinic Specialty appointments (Neighbor islands)
- 1-833-833-3333 (toll free)
- Clinic Specialty appointments (Oahu)
- 1-833-833-3333 (toll free)
- Clinic appointment cancellation
- 808-432-7800
- General information
- 808-432-0000
- Member Services
- 1-800-966-5955 (toll free)
- Same Day Surgery
- 808-432-8490
My training, certifications & licensing
Medical school
This information is not available at this time.Board certification
Vascular Surgery
American Board of SurgeryTo verify board certification for an individual practitioner, please visit the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Medical Association, or the American Osteopathic Association websites.
Medical training
Fellowship
Vascular Surgery
University of California (San Francisco) School of MedicineResidency
General Surgery
University of California (San Francisco) School of MedicineJoined Permanente Medical Group
2003Provider ID
6011My hospitals
I have admitting privileges at the following hospitals:
To find:
- a provider’s office hours, search our facility directory
- providers in your plan or accepting new patients, call 1-800-966-5955 (toll free) or 711 (TTY for the hearing/speech impaired)
The information in this online directory is updated at least monthly. The availability of physicians, hospitals, providers, and services may change. To report an error, please call 1-800-966-5955 or email us.
Medicare Members: To request a hard copy of Kaiser Permanente’s provider directory, please call our Member Services department at 1-800-805-2739, seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Kaiser Permanente will mail a hard copy of the provider directory to you within three (3) business days of your request. Kaiser Permanente may ask whether your request for a hard copy is a one-time request or if you are requesting to receive the provider directory in hard copy permanently.
If you request it, your request for hard copies of the provider directory remains until you leave Kaiser Permanente or request that hard copies be discontinued.
Kaiser Permanente works together with participating providers to ensure all cultural competence obligations are met. We are dedicated to ensuring that services are provided in a culturally competent manner to all members, including those with limited English proficiency and reading skills; as well as those with diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities
Kaiser Permanente is committed to providing accessible facilities, services, and programs for all members, visitors and individuals with disabilities. In compliance with federal and state laws that prohibit discrimination based on disability, Kaiser Permanente provides:
- accessible exam rooms and medical equipment;
- free auxiliary aids and services to ensure effective communication with individuals with hearing, vision, cognitive, and/or communication-related disabilities, including qualified sign language interpreter services and informational materials in alternative formats (large print, audio tape/CDs, accessible PDFs or Microsoft Word documents, electronic texts/disks/CD-ROMS, and Braille); and
- access to service animals, except where the animal poses a significant health or safety risk(s) to others.
For more information about access to a specific facility or provider, or if you believe that Kaiser Permanente has failed to provide appropriate access or services or otherwise discriminated on the basis of a disability, please contact Member Services toll-free 1-800-966-5955 or TTY 711, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. or Saturday, 8 a.m. – noon. You may also contact or file a grievance with the Kaiser Permanente Civil Rights Coordinator in person, by mail, fax or email at: 711 Kapiolani Blvd, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, civil-rights-coordinator@kp.org, or toll-free 1-800-966-5955, TTY 711.
The availability and use of the Kaiser Permanente grievance procedure does not prevent a person from filing a complaint of discrimination on the basis of disability with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights or the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission.
Kaiser Permanente uses the same quality, member experience, or cost-related measures to select practitioners and facilities in Marketplace Silver-tier plans as it does for all other Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (KFHP) products and lines of business and uses the same geographic distribution consideration to select hospitals in Marketplace plans as it does for all other Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (KFHP) products and lines of business. The measures may include, but are not limited to, HEDIS/CAHPS performance, member/patient complaints, patient safety scores, hospital quality measures, and geographic need. Members enrolled in KFHP Marketplace plans have access to all professional, institutional and ancillary health care providers who participate in KFHP plans' contracted provider network, in accordance with the terms of the members' KFHP plan of coverage. All Kaiser Permanente Medical Group physicians and network physicians are subject to the same quality review processes and certifications.
A narrow network is defined as a tailored, tiered or high-performance network that has 80 percent or less overlap with a health plan’s broadest network offered to a member in any type of plan offered by that health plan. Kaiser Permanente does not have a narrow network with respect to its Marketplace plans. Members enrolled in Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (KFHP) Marketplace plans have access to the same provider networks as members enrolled in all other KFHP plans.
Information about a practitioner is provided to us by the practitioner or is obtained as part of the credentialing process. If you would like more current information on a practitioner's license, call either the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Consumer Resource Center at (808) 587-3295 or visit their website, or call the Kaiser Permanente Customer Service Center at (808) 432-5955 (Oahu) or 1-800-966-5955 (toll free, neighbor islands). For the deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired, call 1-800-966-5955 or 711 (TTY).
This page was last updated on: 12/03/2024