HHSC region names CFO
The East Hawaii Region of Hawaii Health Systems Corp. named Joni Waltjen its chief financial officer.
During the past three years, Waltjen served as the region’s interim chief financial officer and comptroller.
Waltjen is a graduate of Hilo High School and the University of Hawaii at Hilo, where she earned her degree in business administration with a focus on finance. She has been with Hilo Medical Center for 16 years and also serves as a director and finance and audit committee chairwoman for Puna Community Medical Center.
Par Hawaii fuels Special Olympics
The return of Par Hawaii’s annual Fueling Dreams campaign is helping Special Olympics Hawaii athletes on their journey for gold.
The 13th annual Fueling Dreams fundraiser, now in progress through May 22, provides Hawaii drivers the opportunity to support Special Olympics Hawaii by making a monetary donation at any one of 45 participating Hele and 76 stations throughout Hawaii Island, Oahu and Maui. All donations received will provide opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities to train and compete free of charge.
To date, Fueling Dreams has raised more than $720,000 for Special Olympics Hawaii. Special Olympics Hawaii provides year-round sports programs for athletes statewide free of charge.
For more information, call 695-3533 or visit www.sohawaii.org.
SBDC welcomes new adviser
The East Hawaii Small Business Development Center welcomed Bernard Balsis as a business adviser to the team.
Balsis comes to the SBDC with a master’s in business administration and more than 25 years of experience in banking and credit unions. Much of that time was spent assisting small businesses with their financing needs.
Balsis is active with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Friends of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park board and active in St. Joseph Catholic Church.
The Small Business Development Center helps East Hawaii small businesses start, grow and thrive through no-cost business advising, training classes and business research. Its training classes cover topics such as how to write a business plan, marketing, understanding financial statements and social media marketing to grow your business.
The Hilo SBDC office is located at 100 Pauahi St., Suite 109. No-cost business advising can be arranged at www.hisbdc.org.
Waimea physician appointed to board
Mountain-Pacific Quality Health recently elected a Waimea physician to its board of directors.
Dr. Sharon H. Vitousek, a graduate of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, will serve as an internal medicine representative.
Vitousek is the director of Health Outcomes LLC, a consulting business that provides strategic planning and organizational metrics. She has worked in internal medicine for decades, served as chief of staff at North Hawaii Community Hospital and served as a medical director for the Hawaii state hospital discharge database.
Vitousek taught and supervised residents and medical students at Burns and served as associate faculty for Dartmouth University and the University of Minnesota.
Mountain-Pacific is a nonprofit corporation based in Helena, Mont.