Queen's Health System president plans to retire
Advertiser Staff
The physician who is credited with strengthening the Queen's Health Systems' finances during the past five years is retiring as the company's president and chief executive officer.
Dr. Gary Okamoto, who has headed Queen's Health Systems since November 2000, will step down Sept. 1 and his duties will be assumed during a transitional period by The Queen's Medical Center's President and Chief Executive Officer Arthur Ushijima.
Ushijima
Naleen Andrade, chairwoman of Queen's Health Systems' board of trustees, lauded Okamoto for his leadership of the 4,400-employee organization and for spearheading strategic planning efforts that strengthened the company's bottom line.
Okamoto is a board-certified physiatrist, a medical doctor specializing in physical therapy.
Prior his appointment as Queen's Health System's chief executive officer, he served as medical director at The Queen's Medical Center from 1986 to 2000 and was a member of the academic and clinical faculty at the University of Hawai'i's John A. Burns School of Medicine from 1984 to 2000. Between 1984 and 1994, he was co-director and consultant to the Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research and Training Center.
According to Queen's Health Systems' tax filings, Okamoto earned about $584,000 for the year ending June 30, 2003.
Ushijima has served as Queen's Medical Center president and CEO since 1993. Before that he was Queen's executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Queen's Health Systems is a nonprofit organization comprised of Queen's Medical Center, Queen's Health Care Centers and the Queen Emma Foundation.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this page mistakenly identified the photo above as that of Dr. Gary Okamoto.
