Hilo hospital
chief quits

By Rod Thompson
Big Island correspondent

HILO -- Dr. Robert Morris, head of the Hilo Medical Center and two other state hospitals in East Hawaii, announced his immediate resignation yesterday while at the Hilo hospital.

The announcement was confirmed by Miles Takaaze, spokesman for Hawaii Health Systems Corp., the semi-independent agency of which the hospital is a part.

Gerald Nagata, chief financial officer of the hospital and of the East Hawaii Region, was named acting chief executive officer to replace Morris.

The reason for the resignation was not immediately clear.

Morris told the Star-Bulletin: "I'm not allowed to talk to you. I think it's better in the interests of the people of Hilo that I don't talk to you."

Other hospital officials, including Nagata, were not immediately available.

Hawaii Health Systems Corp. was created in 1996 to take over administration of 12 state facilities. Hilo Medical Center is the largest among them, according to the system's Internet site.

Morris had not been especially visible since taking over the East Hawaii Region roughly two years ago.

But the spotlight focused on him this past weekend when he was interviewed about a proposal to close the aging long-term-care wing of Hilo Medical Center.

Takaaze said the proposal was part of a larger "four-year strategic initiative."

Although the health corporation generates some of its own income, it has been subsidized by the Legislature since it was created.

Those subsidies have been declining year by year, State Sen. Andy Levin said.

The Senate this year voted $15 million extra for negotiated pay raises for hospital staffs, but the House killed the appropriation, he said. Takaaze said federal Medicare reimbursements have also been declining.