Kenneth D. Graham named Acting President of North Hawaii Community Hospital

THE QUEEN’S HEALTH SYSTEMS NAMES KENNETH D. GRAHAM 

AS ACTING PRESIDENT OF NORTH HAWAII COMMUNITY HOSPITAL

HONOLULU – The Queen’s Health Systems (Queen’s), corporate parent of The Queen’s Medical Center (QMC), named Kenneth D. Graham, MPH, RHIA, FACHE as Acting President of North Hawaii Community Hospital (NHCH).

Graham’s primary role will be to create a relationship of cooperation and trust between Queen’s and both NHCH and the people of North Hawaii.

“Ken has significant experience in a wide array of senior healthcare executive management and leadership roles,” said Art Ushijima, President of The Queen’s Health Systems. “He is clearly aware of the Queen’s mission and values and will bring that sensitivity in his leadership to the staff and patients at North Hawaii Community Hospital.”
“It is truly an honor to serve Queen’s, NHCH and the North Hawaii community in this important capacity,” said Graham. “We are currently working with NHCH to assess and address NHCH’s immediate needs. One immediate focus will be on stabilizing the hospital’s challenging financial situation. Ultimately, our goal is to have a hospital that will advance both the missions of Queen’s and NHCH.”

Graham previously served as System Integration Advisor in the Office of Queen’s President and CEO Art Ushijima, supporting hospital planning, clinical integration, corporate alignment, and neighbor-island health. He also provided team support for activation of The Queen’s Medical Center-West Oahu and the affiliation with NHCH.
He is the former President and CEO of El Camino Hospital, a 542 bed district owned not-for-profit hospital, located on two campuses in the heart of SiliconValley. Under his leadership, El Camino was named “The most technologically advanced hospital in the world” by Popular Science Magazine in December 2009.

Previously he served as CEO at Overlake Hospital Medical Center (337 beds), and in various executive positions with the Daughters of Charity Health System West (2,400 beds), Grossmont District Hospital (426 beds), and Long Beach Community Hospital (350 beds).

He is professionally certified in medical record administration (RHIA), and also certified in healthcare administration (FACHE). Through his career as a hospital executive, he has served as CEO at sophisticated hospitals and as a board member or advisor to dozens of healthcare organizations.

He earned a B.S in Public Health, and a Masters of Public Health, both from UCLA.
Queen’s also named Marilynn Hata as Acting Vice President of Finance and Operations. Hata has extensive practice management consulting experience with a number of physicians. She previously served as a business development consultant for Queen’s. Hata was born and raised in Hilo and has an MBA from the University of Hawaii. Her father, the late Richard T. Hata, M.D., was a general surgeon in Hilo.

“I am pleased that Ken and Marilynn will be leading our transition team,” said Ushijima. “They will both be instrumental in determining what kinds of support North Hawaii Community Hospital will be needing from Queen’s. Over the coming months, we will be conducting a search for a permanent president to lead North Hawaii Community Hospital’s future growth and development.”

On December 16, 2013, Queen’s announced that it had officially entered into an affiliation agreement with NHCH. In the agreement, NHCH became a corporate entity under Queen’s, similar to The Queen’s Medical Center and Molokai General Hospital. QMC has had a clinical affiliation with NHCH since 2005.

The affiliation takes effect January 15, 2014. Both Queen’s and NHCH expect the transition to occur without any disruption of service to the community.