Administrative changes are afoot at Wilcox Health. Reportedly, Wilcox Health, which is comprised of Wilcox Memorial Hospital and its sibling organization Kaua‘i Medical Clinic (KMC), is expected to issue some type of statement today. Pat Oda, spokesperson for Hawaii Pacific
Administrative changes are afoot at Wilcox Health.
Reportedly, Wilcox Health, which is comprised of Wilcox Memorial Hospital and its sibling organization Kaua‘i Medical Clinic (KMC), is expected to issue some type of statement today.
Pat Oda, spokesperson for Hawaii Pacific Health (HPH), confirmed Monday that Paula Dias, Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Wilcox Health System will no longer hold that position on Kaua‘i and will be offered another position with Hawaii Pacific Health (HPH), the parent organization of Wilcox Health.
Dias served as COO of Wilcox Health for 16 months.
According to a prepared statement from Oda and HPH, “Former Wilcox Health COO Paula Dias, a long-time Hawaii Pacific Health employee, was asked to take on a new vice president assignment within the O‘ahu-based HPH.”
According to the statement, “Dias will be involved in identifying and over-seeing initiatives that can bring positive impact to various administrative and clinical operations throughout the system.”
Effective Friday, Sept. 2, Kathy Clark, RN, was promoted to vice president and COO of Wilcox Memorial Hospital, according to Oda. Clark joined Wilcox in April as chief nurse executive/nursing director where she quickly brought new energy and valuable expertise to the hospital’s nursing departments, according to Oda.
In addition to her new position, Clark will also continue in her role as chief nurse executive for the hospital.
Kenneth Pierce D.O., remains as chief medical, officer of KMC.
Oda said HPH had no comment at this time on whether Dr. Bill Evslin, Chief Executive Officer of Wilcox Health System and Executive Vice President of Hawaii Pacific Health, would be stepping down.
Evslin had been candid in previous interviews with the Garden Island concerning the economic challenges facing healthcare providers like Wilcox Health and the hard choices that had to be made.
In a July 28 letter to Wilcox employees, Chuck Sted, president and chief executive officer of HPH revealed that Wilcox Health had lost $10 million during the last fiscal year.
In that letter Sted said, “if I had to boil everything down to one word, it would be ‘change.'”
Sted had made trips to Kaua‘i and Wilcox Health as part of a fact-finding mission.
When asked recently if Wilcox was still losing money, Wilcox Health public information officer Lani Yukimura responded last week in an e-mail (that) “again, nothing has changed but like all other businesses, our physicians and staff are diligent about keeping a focus on doing their jobs while also working on ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs where possible.”
