MEDIA RELEASE

Jay Kreuzer, Regional Chief Executive Officer for Kona and Kohala Hospitals has named Eugene “Gino” Amar, Jr. as the new administrator of Kohala Hospital.

He will assume his duties immediately.

Amar has 20 years’ experience at Kohala Hospital. He began his career there as an accountant, then became the hospital’s business office manager. He subsequently moved up the ranks to assistant hospital administrator.

Most recently, Amar was named acting administrator at Kohala Hospital.

Amar was born and raised in North Kohala, and is a graduate of Kohala High. He received his BS in Business Administration (Cum Laude) from Hawaii Pacific College. He went on to earn a Master’s in Healthcare Administration.

In May, he received his nursing home administrator’s license.

“Gino has been instrumental to much-needed hospital renovations as well as the construction of a secondary access road to the hospital’s emergency room. He is also overseeing the implementation of electronic medical records at Kohala Hospital, which will go live in February, 2013. His energy and commitment to his community and to rural health care make Gino the right person for this position,” said Pat Kalua, chief nurse executive at Kona Community Hospital and former Kohala hospital administrator.

Amar’s community involvement includes serving on the Board of North Kohala Resource, where he is a founding member. He is a member, entertainment committee chair, and master of ceremonies for the Kohala Country Fair Committee. He is also the secretary of the Puna Motorcycle Club-Kohala Chapter.

Kohala Hospital is a Critical Access Hospital with acute and long-term care services and a 24-hour emergency room that supports the North Kohala community. It is a member of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, a special agency of the state of Hawaii established in 1996.

Its mission is to provide a “healing” environment to the community of North Kohala through the provision of quality health care services with emphasis on quality of life to all patients and residents.