Maui Memorial Medical Center is seen in February. Search committee members hope to find new CEO to lead Maui Health, which operates Maui Memorial, Kula Hospital and Lanai Cmmunity Hospital, by beginning of next year. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER
Maui Health has hired a top executive search firm to help find its new CEO, whom hospital officials hope could be in place by the beginning of next year.
While it is a “high priority” to find a leader from Hawaii or with Hawaii ties, the chairwoman of Maui Health’s search committee said “our main focus is on finding someone who meets or exceeds the qualifications and key attributes we feel are necessary for a highly successful Maui Health CEO.”
“This includes someone committed to being an authentic member of the Maui County community, to truly listening and learning, and who would dedicate themselves to addressing the health needs of our islands and people,” Chairwoman Tamar Goodfellow said in an email.
She is a board member at Maui Health and also the president of Maui Health Foundation, an independent, tax-exempt organization that is separate from Maui Health System, according to its website.
Maui Health, which operates Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital, is seeking a new CEO since the retirement of Michael Rembis this spring.
Liz Linares (left), chairwoman of the United Nurses and Health Care Employees of Hawaii, talks to Charmaine Morales, president of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, based out of California, during a visit to Maui Memorial Medical Center this week. — JACKIE PONCE photo
In the meantime, Kerry Watson, a health care executive from North Carolina, has been serving as interim CEO of Maui Health, a Kaiser Permanente affiliate, since Rembis’ departure.
His retirement announcement came shortly after rumblings about Rembis being ousted as CEO, but a spokesperson at the time said Rembis’ retirement was unrelated to those claims.
Rembis joined Maui Health in 2017, shortly after the three hospitals transitioned from the state’s public hospital system to the newly created Maui Health System. He dealt with the fallout from the transition and was also at the helm as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Outbreaks among patients and staff at the hospital spawned criticism from workers and the community who were frustrated over the hospitals’ policies and how they were enforced. Some community members also called for Rembis’ ouster.
While Rembis’ tenure was seen as rocky by some, Maui Health officials credited him at the end of his career for expanding health services, programs and access and having “improved quality metrics that met or exceeded national standards” at Maui Health.
Criticism of Maui Health administration and leadership has continued on, however, and is part of why the search for a new CEO is being watched closely by community members, medical workers and state legislators, as millions of dollars of state funds still get appropriated to Maui Memorial Medical Center. Some Maui state lawmakers have expressed their preference for a new leader also with island ties.
Liz Linares, chairwoman of the United Nurses and Health Care Employees of Hawaii, said a concern with finding a new CEO is having someone familiar with the culture here on Maui.
On Thursday, she said she felt she was able to translate that to Watson and to Greg Adams, the chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. and Hospitals. A Maui Health spokesperson said on Friday that Adams was at the hospital for a routine visit and it was unrelated to the CEO search.
“I think they understood that,” Linares said of the request for a new leader sensitive to the island’s differences. She is a case manager at Maui Health.
Linares’ union represents about 850 members at Maui Health, including registered nurses, case managers, radiologists, pharmacists, therapists, admitting staff and receptionists.
“I think they are seeing the culture here is different and I think that we made it clear today we are worth it and we are valuable and we are worth spending time and money on,” Linares said on Thursday afternoon.
While Linares and Charmaine Morales, president of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals based out of California, said the main purpose of Thursday was to meet with the leaders as they made their rounds in the hospital, Morales said she will be inquiring more about the CEO search and will seek to make sure the union has input.
“Ideally if you can get someone from Hawaii, from the islands, that would be ideal. Is it realistic? Probably not. But as long as you get that right fit, it will make the world of difference for this small tight community,” Morales said.
In a letter this week to Maui County Council members, a group describing themselves as “Citizens for Maui Health,” asked council members to adopt a resolution demanding that the CEO search process be transparent and that the new CEO be “for the people of Maui” and not “a puppet for Kaiser Permanente.”
The group said it was made up of health care providers at Maui Memorial.
The letter also asked that council members demand Maui Health board members “be aligned to represent Maui.”
A resolution at the council does not have the force or effect of law, but can express the sentiment of the council. Earlier this year, the council passed a resolution supporting striking United Public Workers union hospital employees and urging Maui Health to resolve contract negotiations.
In April, the union ended a nearly two-month strike after members ratified a new three-year contract with Maui Health. Some of employees’ concerns included new hires making more money than those already working at the hospital, as well as short-staffing and wages.
The UPW, which represents nearly 500 workers at Maui Health’s three hospitals, said this week it did not have an official position on the CEO search.
The search process began in February with the formation of a six-person search committee from Maui Health’s Board of Directors.
Goodfellow said the committee includes “four island board members” and two Kaiser Permanente members. Maui Health declined to identify them.
Maui Health’s Board of Directors includes Goodfellow, Mary Hew, Kathy Lancaster, Kim Horn, Dr. Steve Miller, Dr. Bryan Smith, Clay Sutherland, Tony Takitani and John Yamamoto, according to Maui Health’s website.
Goodfellow said that in the national search, they have partnered with WittKieffer, a firm that has offices globally and has consultants in many U.S. states. The firm was chosen in part due to its experience working in Hawaii, she said.
Maui Health declined to say how much they are paying the search firm.
The search firm has spent the last few months interviewing board members, senior leadership, physician leadership and “other key stakeholders at Maui Health and in the community to develop clear goals, objectives, and priorities for recruiting the ideal candidate.”
“They have developed a position profile that includes a comprehensive list of qualifications, knowledge and work experience, expectations, and key attributes required for a successful Maui Health CEO,” Goodfellow said.
The search firm continues to accept nominations, expressions of interest and resumes.
After candidates are screened, those qualified will be presented to the search committee for review. Top candidates will be identified and interviewed in the following few months, she added.
“As a standard practice in executive searches, candidate information will remain protected to ensure and respect the confidentiality of the candidate’s interest and other information,” Goodfellow said.
Maui Health also did not answer a question on who will ultimately decide on the new CEO. They also declined to answer a question about whether union leadership and/or representatives of various positions at the hospital would be privy to the names of finalists for the position.
While the aim is to have a new leader in place by early next year, Goodfellow said “finding the right candidate is most important and we will work diligently until that is accomplished.”
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
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