The current chief executive officers of Wilcox Health System and Kaua’i Medical Clinic are new executive vice presidents on Hawai’i Pacific Health’s executive leadership team. Dr. Dave Patton, chief executive officer of Wilcox Health, and Dr. Lee Evslin, chief executive
The current chief executive officers of Wilcox Health System and Kaua’i Medical Clinic are new executive vice presidents on Hawai’i Pacific Health’s executive leadership team.
Dr. Dave Patton, chief executive officer of Wilcox Health, and Dr. Lee Evslin, chief executive officer of Kaua’i Medical Clinic, assumed their new positions this week when the merger of Wilcox, Kapi’olani Health and Straub Clinic and Hospital into Hawai’i Pacific Health was formally finalized Tuesday.
Dr. Joe Bailey, a cardiologist with Kaua’i Medical Clinic; former Wilcox Health board chairman Pamela Dohrman; Dr. Kenneth Pierce, Wilcox Hospital emergency department medical director; and Melvin Ventura of Ventura Development, are the Kaua’i members of the Hawai’i Pacific Health board of directors.
The merger announcement was made by Hawai’i Pacific Health president Roger Drue and board Chairman Jack Tsui.
“In the new healthcare and consumer environment, companies with the scope, scale, and vision of how to best survive the challenges while providing exceptional patient care will be the industry leaders,” said Tsui. “With this merger, we are creating such an organization.”
The Hawai’i Pacific Health merger creates one of the state’s largest healthcare organizations, bringing under one system four hospitals, 23 clinics, over 30 community outreach programs, more than 4,700 employees including 300 medical staff, and affiliations with nearly 1,000 private-practice physicians.
Under the Hawai’i Pacific Health umbrella, patient care and community services will be delivered on Kaua’i, O’ahu, Lana’i and Big Island. The combined four-hospital system has a total of 582 acute-care beds, 110 long-term-care beds, and 100 bassinets.
“The beauty of this merger is that we can address our own business needs and remain a community resource through continued excellence in patient care and support of charitable programs that fill unique needs for many,” said Drue.
Hawai’i Pacific Health’s board of directors will have equal numbers of directors designated by the three subsidiary healthcare systems. Its 15 members include eight from the general community, six physicians and the chief executive officer of Hawai’i Pacific Health.
The top management team for Hawai’i Pacific Health is a blend of senior executives from the three organizations, including physicians.
“I am excited about the promise and opportunities of this merger,” said Evslin. “We’ve already made large strides on Kaua’i and have been cited as one of the nation’s top 100 hospitals in the small-hospital category, but I see this merger as enabling us to make an even bigger jump forward.”
Evslin cited the addition of a weeknight doctor at Wilcox as an example of better patient care.
“To have 24-hour physician coverage is a big step forward for a rural hospital,” he said.
Dr. Ken Robbins, chief medical officer at Straub and also a Hawai’i Pacific Health executive vice president, said the merger “will bring greater numbers of physicians together as colleagues and collaborators, which is something those of us in healthcare and consumers need.”
Although full integration between the three healthcare systems will take time to complete, consolidation of administrative functions such as purchasing, human resources, finance, marketing, legal services, corporate compliance, information services, engineering, research, and executive leadership has already been accomplished or begun, leaders said.
Other common resource and support areas, including development of a systemwide medical information system and centralized protocols and guidelines that can lead to improvements in operational efficiencies and quality of care, have also been identified as early integration activities, hospital officials said.
There will be no closing of Wilcox, Straub or Kapi’olani facilities or programs as a result of the merger. Each of the new organization’s four hospital campuses and 23 clinics will maintain their current names and services, making the merger largely transparent to communities and patients, officials said. Patients will still see their same doctors, go to the same facilities, and utilize their same health plans.
There will also be no layoffs and virtually no job changes for the vast majority of employees, most of whom work in clinical areas, officials said. Some employees, working in administrative or shared-services areas, will see changes in their jobs, and could report to a different supervisor or work location.
On O’ahu, hospitals are the Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women and Children, Kapi’olani Medical Center at Pali Momi, and Straub Clinic and Hospital.
Staff writer Paul C. Curtis contributed to this report.
