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Hawaii Business Magazine – Health & Wellness (CHANGE Framework)
March 12, 2020 @ 4:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Hawaii Business Magazine – Health & Wellness (CHANGE Framework)
EVENT DETAILS
Take a good healthcare system and make it better.
Hawaii ranks among the best states in the nation for health care, but persistent problems remain. Hear from our speakers about key developments in:
- Breaking down ethnic health care disparities
- Treating mental illness, especially among the young
- Fighting back against the diabetes epidemic
- Making wellness a priority
PANELISTS
Chris Van Bergeijk, Senior Vice President – Chief Impact Officer, Hawai‘i Community Foundation
Christine van Bergeijk is currently the Chief Impact Officer and Senior Vice President of the Office of Strategy and Impact at Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF). She has been with HCF since 2000, serving also as Vice President of Programs overseeing an average of $20 million in grants each year into the community. She has designed and implemented a variety of social, education, economic, and health programs aimed at engaging philanthropy and nonprofits in solving some of Hawai‘i’s most critical challenges. In her current role, Chris leads HCF’s efforts to identify new strategies that achieve CHANGE goals as well as ensure that program efforts deliver impact and results for our communities.
Prior to joining HCF, Chris was the economic development division manager for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) where she was responsible for the oversight of community economic development grantmaking and small business development lending programs of a quasi-state agency serving the Native Hawaiian community.
Previous to OHA, she was a technical assistance consultant for the U.S. Administration for Native Americans (ANA), Washington, D.C., and also a planning officer for Alu Like, Inc. in Honolulu.
Ms. van Bergeijk received her bachelor’s degree in Geography from Indiana University and her master’s degree in Human Geography from the University of Hawai‘i. She is a member of the board of directors of the Hawai‘i Chamber of Commerce and serves as the Chair for the Chamber’s Education Committee.
With over 100 years of community service, the Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) is the leading philanthropic institution in the state. HCF is a steward of more than 900 funds, including more than 280 scholarship funds, created by donors who desire to transform lives and improve communities. In 2018, HCF distributed more than $62 million in grants and contracts statewide, including more than $6.3 million in scholarships. HCF also serves as a resource on community issues and trends in the nonprofit sector.
Richard P. Bettini, MPH, MS, President and CEO, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center
Richard P. Bettini has been chief executive since 1994 of the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center (WCCHC), Hawaii’s largest Federally Qualified Community Health Center serving more than 38,000 patients through 206,000 clinical visits annually. The Health Center employs approximately 800 individuals with most residing in the Center’s service area.
Rich graduated from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health and also holds a Master of Science from San Jose State University.
Rich is a board member of the National Association of Community Health Centers. He is an officer of AHARO Hawaii, a health center based network pursuing a unique, value based, and community driven Medicaid payment model. He is past president and current officer of the Association of Asian and Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO). He is past chairman of AlohaCare, a community-directed health plan.
Rich is the hānai son of Agnes “Aunty Aggie” Kalanihookaha Cope. His Hawaiian name (given to him by the Elders Council of the WCCHC Native Hawaiian Traditional Healing Center) is Kia‘iikeolamaiola (Guardian for Health and Wellbeing).
Dr. Mark Mugiishi, M.D., F.A.C.S., President and CEO, Hawaiʻi Medical Service Association
Dr. Mark Mugiishi is the president and CEO of HMSA, since February 2020. For the majority of his career Dr. Mugiishi has practiced and taught surgery in private practice and in association with the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine. He has served HMSA in a variety of capacities since 1995, from part-time medical director to consultant. In 2015, he joined the leadership team as executive vice president, chief medical officer, and chief health officer.
In addition to his leadership at HMSA, Dr. Mugiishi co-founded the Endoscopy Institute of Hawaii and the Eye Surgery Center of Hawaii, and was a medical director at Hawaii technology accelerators. He was a general surgeon in the state for nearly 30 years and was associate chair of the department of surgery and director of surgical education at the University of Hawaii medical school.
Dr. Mugiishi currently serves as chair of the Iolani School Board of Governors. He coached varsity basketball at Iolani where he led the team to 11 league championships and seven state championships. He holds the distinction of being the winningest high school basketball coach in state history and, in 2010, coached the All-American Nike Jordan Brand Classic game in Madison Square Garden.
Dr. Mugiishi was a producer of the Broadway musical Allegiance starring George Takei and Lea Salonga, which ran at the Shubert’s Longacre Theater in New York City in 2015-16.
He earned his medical degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Connie Mitchell, Executive Director, Institute for Human Services
Connie Mitchell has led the Institute for Human Services and stood at the forefront of addressing homelessness in Hawai’i for over 10 years. During her tenure, IHS grew from serving 1,400 to more than 5,000 individuals through the development of case management, housing, employment, health promotion and healing programs and an array of specialty shelters for homeless people in our community. Prior to IHS, Connie established a nurse-run rural clinic on Hawai’i Island and was Director of Nursing at Hawaii State Hospital where she helped settle a consent decree with the U.S. Dept. of Justice. She serves on the boards of EPIC Ohana, Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Ca. and the State’s Workforce Development Council. She is firmly committed to cross-sector collaboration in the interest of social innovation.
Dr. Joseph Keawe‘aimoku Kaholokula, Professor & Chair, Native Hawaiian Health, JABSOM, UH Mānoa
Dr. Joseph Keawe‘aimoku Kaholokula is Professor and Chair of Native Hawaiian Health in the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a licensed clinical psychologist. His research involves developing community-based and culturally relevant health promotion programs to address diabetes and cardiovascular disease inequities in Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders using community-based participatory research approaches. His research also examines how biological, psychosocial, and sociocultural factors interplay to affect their risk for and management of chronic diseases. His work has had an impact on the local, regional, and national levels to bring systemic improvements to health care delivery, clinical outcomes, and policy through community-based research efforts. He has a strong commitment to achieving health equity and improving the health of Indigenous communities, which are reflected in his services on the national level as past Chair for the Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (IRINAH) network and his recent appointment to the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities. On a local level, he serves on boards of organizations with a mission to improve population and Native Hawaiian health to include the Queen’s Health Systems and Hawai‘i Public Health Institute. As a Native Hawaiian, he is passionate about improving the health of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and has made a life-long commitment to improving their social and cultural determinants of health.
Moderator: Steve Petranik, Editor, Hawaii Business Magazine
Hosted drinks and pupus served immediately after panel discussion.
PARKING:
- Honolulu Museum of Art School lot
Limited hosted parking available across the street with valets on hand to maximize parking. - First Insurance Center
Entrance and exit to the parking structure on Beretania Street. Special flat rate of $5.00 with validation at the registration table courtesy of The RMR Group.