Aloha Hawai’i-Pacific Chapter Members,

I am thrilled to be your 2015 Chapter President and look forward to meeting each of you as we move forward throughout the year ahead.  I want to extend a “Thank You” to Darlena Chadwick our past President for her many efforts with the chapter last year to include, however not limited to hosting our 2014 Cluster and our Diversity Panel at Tripler Army Medical Center.  What a great year!

The 2015 Congress on Healthcare Leadership was a success!  There were over 4,000 in attendance all focused on “Healthcare in Motion – Leadership Center Stage.” The key note speaker, Stuart Rothenberg, shared his thoughts on the future of political landscape as it impacts healthcare.  We were joined this year by members of our chapter from various healthcare facilities as well as a member from Guam.  It was an evening of “talking story“ and sharing of conference learnings.

While at Congress this year, we welcomed our new Regent, Jen Chahanovich, CEO of Pali Momi Medical Center, and shared a fond farewell to Coral Andrews, Regent from March 2012 – 2015.  We thank Coral for her tireless efforts with supporting the chapter as we developed our Diversity Committee and hosted our first Panel, co-developing with the University of Hawai’i  Shidler School of Business for a focused on a MBA in Healthcare Management and for providing mentorship as we continue to grow as a chapter.   

Chapter Dinner (Left to Right):  Jen Chahonovich, Gidget Ruscetta,
Selma Yamamoto, Eliza Olaru, LTJG Matthew Gallagher

We look forward to working with Jen over the next three years as we continue to focus on our Diversity strategy and enhance our relationship with the University of Hawai’i’s Shidler School of Business.  “Welcome, Jen!”

This is a very exciting year for our Chapter.  We will be focusing on three major efforts this year: 

·         Our Diversity Initiative

·         Increasing our chapter membership

·         Providing more education opportunities to our members

Please watch your email, read your newsletter and follow our website postings for the Summer and Fall educational events.

Coming up in May, we will be hosting our first Chapter mingle.  This is an opportunity for you to get to know your board, fellow professionals in healthcare and to dialogue with others to explore joining a committee and /or, finding a study partner on your journey of becoming a fellow.  Please feel free to also bring a colleague who you know may be interested in joining our chapter.

Mahalo,

Gidget