NHCH chief takes on new role

Ken Wood is leaving his post as CEO of North Hawaii Community Hospital, but he isn’t leaving the hospital just yet.

Wood, who took the hospital’s top job two years ago, will become senior adviser to the hospital’s board of directors, hospital officials said in a release Monday afternoon.

Multiple attempts to reach Wood, including a message left on his cell phone, and the hospital’s spokeswoman were unsuccessful Monday afternoon.

Board Chairman Bob Momsen praised Wood’s work on the hospital strategy, particularly in response to changes in how hospitals operate, changes in Medicare and changes in insurance reimbursements. That, combined with Wood’s desire to relocate to the mainland after his daughter graduates high school this spring, prompted Wood and the board to create the senior adviser position. That gives Wood time to find a new job and the hospital time to find a new CEO, Momsen said.

“We collectively thought this would be a good time to start,” Momsen said, adding the decision was mutually agreed upon by Wood and the board. “We think this thing is going to go seamlessly.”

The CEO job will be more of a “nuts and bolts, day-to-day operations position,” Momsen said, while Wood’s work will focus on keeping the hospital on track with its long-term strategic goals.

Vice President of Human Resources Bill Brown will serve as interim CEO and oversee the hospital’s daily operations immediately, the release said.

In making the announcement, officials touched on some of Wood’s accomplishments, including the recent launching of Kaheleaulani, a Native Hawaiian health program, and other programs officials claimed helped the hospital “transition within the emerging new world of health care.”

Wood’s tenure as CEO has not been free of controversy, however. Earlier this year, he raised the ire of midwives and patients islandwide by making significant changes to the hospital’s popular birth center.