HHSC East Hawaii CEO resigns

Subscribe Now Choose a package that suits your preferences.
Start Free Account Get access to 7 premium stories every month for FREE!
Already a Subscriber? Current print subscriber? Activate your complimentary Digital account.

Howard Ainsley, East Hawaii regional CEO for the Hawaii Health Systems Corp., which operates the state’s public hospitals, has announed his resignation effective Aug. 9.

Howard Ainsley, East Hawaii regional CEO for the Hawaii Health Systems Corp., which operates the state’s public hospitals, has announed his resignation effective Aug. 9.

In a release issued Thursday, HHSC reported that Ainsley will join the Novant Health System in North Carolina as CEO of its newest affiliated facility, Morehead Memorial Hospital. Novant Health System is a private, not-for-profit healthcare system with $5.8 billion in operating revenue with a four-state footprint in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. It owns or operates a total of 28 medical centers and 158 ambulatory centers, and has over 5,000 physician partners as members of its medical staff, including 1,200 Novant Health Medical Group physicians at 350 locations.

“We are thankful for having had Howard’s leadership over the past five years as we went through our transformation to becoming a more quality driven organization,” said Gary Yoshiyama, East Hawaii Regional Board chairman. “We wish Howard the very best as he enters the next stage of his career.

“The East Hawaii Region will continue to focus on its vision of becoming a health care system that provides patient centered, culturally competent, cost effective care with exceptional outcomes and superior patient satisfaction. Our Board has also reaffirmed its commitment to its strategic plan and will move forward with it as its guiding document.”

“Over the past 5 years, I’ve had the honor of working with the exceptional people as we became the first HHSC affiliated organization to implement an electronic medical record and develop a Family Residency Program; we’ve made significant improvements in our clinical quality and core measures, and introduced state-of-the-art technological advances to our hospitals,” said Ainsley. “We are becoming a more patient centered organization intent on improving the quality of care for our island’s residents and have much to celebrate! It has been my pleasure serving the East Hawaii Community through this period of growth, and I leave the organization in the care of a dedicated, hard working, and gifted team of Board members, executives, and managers. I know they will continue to push the region toward becoming a top-notch hospital in Hawaii, and wish them the very best.”