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Sponsors

Board of Directors
John F. Morton, PhD, Board Chair, Director-at-Large
Vice President for Community Colleges, University of Hawaii System
 
Dr. John Morton is responsible for executive leadership, policy decision-making, resource allocation and development of support services for the University of Hawaii's seven community colleges. In January 2002, Dr. Morton became project coordinator, overseeing the planning, development, and implementation of the first unified Student Information System for the University of Hawaii System and continues to oversee this project. Dr. Morton earned a B.S. in chemistry and M.A. in political science from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Communication and Information Sciences from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
George Greene, JD, Vice Chair, Member representing the Healthcare Association of Hawaii

On September 1, 2009, George W. Greene took over the reigns of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.  Prior to joining HAH, George was Region 9 Director of the American Hospital Association, working on advocacy and membership relations with hospital executives in Hawaii, California, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and Nevada. Mr. Greene holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English with a minor in Communications from Clemson University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Tennessee College of Law.
Cliff Cisco, BA, Secretary/Treasurer; Member representing HMSA
Senior Vice President, HMSA

Mr. Cisco has been employed by HMSA, Blue Cross/Blue Shield Plan of Hawaii for 36 years. He is responsible for the following functions and programs: Government and Community Relations, Customer Service, Corporate Communication, HMSA's benefit programs for Medicare and QUEST recipients, and the HMSA Foundation. Mr. Cisco received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Mexico and attended the University of Hawaii for post graduate courses in Business and Public Health Planning.
Raymond P. Vara Jr, MBA, Member representing Healthcare Association of Hawaii
Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer-Operations, Hawaii Pacific Health
 
Mr. Vara currently serves as Executive Vice President of Hawaii Pacific Health and CEO of Operations. Responsibilities include executive oversight of Straub Clinic & Hospital, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi, and Wilcox Health on Kauai. Mr. Vara is a graduate of Hawaii Pacific University where he earned his bachelor of science in business administration. He received his master's of business administration at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
 
Laura Matsuda Colbert, MBA, Director At-Large, Vice President - Operations, Liberty Dialysis-Hawaii
 
Ms. Colbert current serves a Director At-Large and Chair of the HHIC Privacy Board. In 2006, when the St. Francis Healthcare System entered into a partnership with Liberty Dialysis-Hawaii LLC, she became its Vice President – Operations for Liberty Dialysis-Hawaii and currently serves on the Governing Board for Liberty Dialysis-Hawaii and Liberty Dialysis-North Hawaii. She received her Masters in Business Administration in Economics from George Washington University and her Bachelors from the University of Hawaii.
Jean H. Hamakawa, MBA, Director-at-Large
Executive Vice President & Director of Human Resources, Bank of Hawaii
 
Ms. Hamakawa is the Executive Vice President & Director of Human Resources at Bank of Hawaii and is responsible for directing all human resource programs for 2700+ employees spread across the state of Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, Palau, and American Samoa. Ms. Hamakawa received her Masters in Business Administration and Bachelors of Arts degrees from Indiana University.
Linda M. Rosen, MD, MPH, Director-at-Large
Chief, State of Hawaii Department of Health Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention Branch

Dr. Rosen is currently the Chief of the Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention Systems Branch of the Hawaii Department of Health. She has a strong interest in epidemiology and improving available data to better address public health problems.
Todd Seto, MD, Director-at-Large. Medical Director, Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) and the Cardiac Non-Invasive Laboratory

Dr. Seto oversees nurses, data analysts and performance improvement specialists working on hospital-wide quality improvement projects. Dr. Seto's intrests include the economic and quality-of-life analyses of new technology and he has led NIH-funded projects evaluating the quality of care of patients with breast and colon cancer and developing methods to improve the quality of heart failure care for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
Linda Chu Takayama, JD, Director-at-Large
Attorney at Law
 
Ms. Takayama is an attorney with practice areas in state and federal regulatory and governmental affairs, health, insurance, and corporate business law. Previously, she served as Deputy Director of the State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hawaii Insurance Commissioner, and Administrative Assistant and General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms in Washington, D.C. Ms. Takayama received her B.A. in Journalism from the University of Hawaii, and earned her Juris Doctor degree from the George Mason University School of Law.
William M. Dang Jr, MD, Member representing Hawaii Medical Association Physician
Dr. William Dang was born in New Orleans and grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii.
 
He received his medical degree, Internal Medicine training and Cardiology Fellowship at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. He returned to Honolulu, starting his private cardiology practice in 1985. He presently has hospital privileges at Hawaii Medical Center – East, Hawaii Medical Center – West, Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi, The Queens Medical Center, Wahiawa General Hospital and Kuakini Medical Center.
Geoffrey Sewell, MD, Member representing Hawaii Permanente Medical Group
President & Executive Medical Director, Hawaii Premanente Medical Group
COL Michael L. Kiefer, MHA, FACHE, Military Liaison. Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander for Administration, Pacific Regional Medical Command & Tripler Army Medical Center

COL Kiefer graduated from Lehigh University in Bethlehem Pennsylvania in 1986 and earned a master’s degree from the U.S. Army-Baylor University Graduate Program in Healthcare Administration in 1994. COL Kiefer completed the didactic phase of the U.S. Army-Baylor University Graduate Program in Healthcare Administration in 1993 and then performed his administrative residency at Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. COL Kiefer is currently the Chief of Staff at Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. 
Bernie Ledesma, MPH, Member representing Long Term Care
Administrator, Pearl City Nursing Home, PC Care Corp
 
Bernie Ledesma has had over twenty-five years of various levels of management experiance. She has worked with program planning, development and implementation, facility operations, fiscal and personal management, marketing and public relations, and education and traning; amongst other things. Bernie recieved her Bachelor of Science at the University of Hawaii where she also recieved her Masters of Public Health at the University of Hawaii, School of Public Health.

Peter A. Sybinsky, PhD, Ex-Officio Member. President and Chief Executive Officer, Hawaii Health Information Corporation

Peter A. Sybinsky, Ph.D. comes to HHIC with over twenty-nine years in public health, health care delivery and human service programs.  Dr. Sybinsky's background includes heading two large departments of state government, as Director of Hawaii's Department of Health and as Secretary of Indiana's Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA). In these roles, he directed a wide range of programs including Medicaid, mental health/substance abuse, services for persons with disabilities, health promotion/education, emergency medical services, environmental health, communicable disease control, and maternal and child health. As Deputy Director of Health for the State of Hawaii from 1987 to 1994, Dr. Sybinsky implemented innovations such as the State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) and Hawaii Access. In the private sector, Dr. Sybinsky served as CEO of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Services in Washington, DC.  He also worked at the California Medical Association in San Francisco as Senior Vice President/Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Sybinsky's career is marked by a record of innovation and accomplishment including, expansion of health care coverage in two states, involvement in health reform efforts at the national level, leadership in creative approaches to HIV/AIDS, care of children with severe behavioral problems, public health/human service information and referral, tobacco control and the prevention of child abuse and neglect.  An East-West Center grantee, he received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii.