Posted on: Saturday, April 14, 2001
Search is on for permanent director at state mental hospital
By William Cole
Advertiser Staff Writer
Without a commitment by Barbara Peterson to stay on, Hawai'i State Hospital may be faced with the need to find a new administrator — its third in three years.
Officials with the Kane'ohe mental hospital this week said recruitment is under way for a "permanent" director.
Peterson, 53, was hired based on a one-year contract that expires in November. Asked Thursday at a legislative briefing whether Peterson indicated she would be staying, hospital officials said, "not at this time."
Peterson could not be reached for comment yesterday. Officials said approximately 40 resumes received as the result of a national recruitment effort are being evaluated.
Health Department Director Bruce Anderson said Peterson has done a "superb" job of running the 164-patient hospital.
Anderson made the comments at a legislative briefing called by the chairman of the House Health Committee, Rep. Dennis Arakaki, D-28th (Kalihi Valley, Kamehameha Heights). Arakaki and other committee members questioned hospital officials about a recent rash of escapes and charges by some that the recent closing of an aging building has led to overcrowding.
Anderson had said there aren't any significant problems he has noticed with patients being moved from the 60- to 70-year-old Guensberg building, which has asbestos and electrical problems, to four other units.
"I'm very pleased she (Peterson) is there to work through some of these management issues," Anderson told the panel.
Peterson came to Hawai'i State Hospital with 28 years of experience as a hospital chief executive. She had been with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, where she was part of a monitoring team that reviewed mental health services in prisons owned and operated by the state.
Peterson in November took over for Wayne Law, who accepted the position on a temporary basis, and was with the hospital for about a year and a half.
