ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gov. Linda Lingle announced her choice for state health director yesterday. The appointment of Dr. Chiyome Fukino, at right, is subject to Senate confirmation.
A physician whose work and research has focused on native Hawaiian health issues has been nominated to head the state Department of Health. Lingle names
new health directorDr. Chiyome Fukino is an
internist who has focused on
native Hawaiian health issuesBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com
Gov. Linda Lingle named Dr. Chiyome Leinaala Fukino, an internist currently in private practice, to head the department.
Fukino said of the DOH that "to doctors in the community, it's really a rattlesnakes' nest."
Fukino is also president of E Ola Mau, a nonprofit organization of Hawaiian health-care providers.
Also yesterday, Lingle announced the appointment of Jane Kadohiro as deputy health director. Kadohiro is a nurse who holds a doctorate in public health and currently is an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii School of Nursing.
Lingle chose Fukino and Kadohiro after receiving recommendations from a search committee headed by former Hawaii Medical Association President Dr. Phil Hellreich.
"Our views are very much in sync," Lingle said of her two appointees. "Both Dr. Fukino and Dr. Kadohiro have the ability -- and also, I just think it's part of their nature -- to work in a cooperative way. That's their history. If you talk with people who are their references ... people are passionate about these two."
Fukino said she will strive for success in improving access to quality health care.
She said the department's priorities will focus on substance abuse, long-term care and mental health for both adults and school-age children.
The Health Department oversees the Hawaii State Hospital and children's mental health services, which are both currently under a federal court consent decree.
Fukino said the state has a way to go in making improvements.
"I know that we've been trashed as a state because of our care of the mentally ill. I don't think that that's something unique. I think care of the mentally ill is a very difficult problem for the nation to handle as a whole," Fukino said.
Fukino's appointment is subject to state Senate confirmation.
Senate Health Committee Chairwoman Roz Baker said that she is glad to see that another woman has been added to the Cabinet. She said she does not know Fukino and would like to get a better feel for her skills as an administrator and manager.
"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to hear her views on how she sees the Department of Health's role and some of the ways that she tackles some of the challenges in the public health arena," Baker (D, Maui) said.
Baker said she sees Fukino's background in native Hawaiian health issues as a plus in underscoring the need to not only create a good health system, but make sure people have access to that system.
"I would like to see what kind of leadership and ideas she has on how we might move back to more pre-eminence as the health state," said Baker, who added that the state's past economic challenges could explain a drop in health rankings.
"I'm interested in hearing her plans," she said.
Kadohiro, who has also worked within the Health Department in different jobs over the years, will focus on prevention issues.
"We certainly can look at how we can work across the different parts of the department to put prevention programs into action," Kadohiro said.
State Health Department
