Kaiser president to retire

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

The head of Kaiser Permanente in Hawai'i will retire Dec. 31 after more than a quarter-century with the organization.

Bruce Behnke, 53, has been Kaiser Permanente's Hawai'i president and regional manager for three years. Behnke said he is retiring so he can spend more time volunteering on medical missions and trying to turn his passion for nature photography into a possible new profession.

"I really felt like I need to do these other things," Behnke said yesterday from a Kaiser Permanente conference in Burlingame, Calif. "It's being true to my heart and my passions. This job takes a 150 percent investment."

The search for a new president has begun and involves Behnke and Mike Chaffin, president of the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group. Behnke said he plans to work with whoever is selected as his successor over the rest of the year and then become a Kaiser Permanente consultant working on the organization's strategy and 10-year capital plan.

He also wants to spend more time volunteering with the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, which dispatches medical missions abroad and has a Honolulu branch that operates a free clinic in Chinatown and a school on Wai'alae Avenue.

Photography also has been Behnke's passion. "I've always wanted to see if I could leverage that and do something with that," he said. "With the job I have, there's just no way."

Behnke shot all of the photos for the Lyon Arboretum calendar, among several projects. His pictures also can be found at www.pacificrimphotography.com.

Before his current position, Behnke had been Kaiser Permanente Hawaii's regional hospital administrator since 1994. He started with the organization in 1974.