Categorized | Business, Health

NHCH adds three doctors, renews three contracts

MEDIA RELEASE

North Hawaii Community Hospital has announced it has secured renewal contracts with three physicians: Dr. William Park, general surgery and director of minimally invasive surgery at North Hawaii Community Hospital; Dr. Jade Patti McGaff, obstetrician/gynecologist with the Waimea Women’s Center; and Dr. P.G. Rajan, gastroenterologist, who rejoins the staff of Dr. Ron Ahloy.  

Additionally, three new physicians will bring their expertise to patient care options at the full-service acute-care hospital: Dr. Rudolph Puana, anesthesiologist; Dr. Terry Smith, orthopedics; and Dr. Michele Shimizu, family medicine. 

A total of 120 physicians on staff or physicians with privileges at NHCH continue to serve the greater Big Island community.

“Each one of these doctors brings personalized, professional care to patients within their respective practices and to patients,” said Ronald J. Vigus, interim chief executive officer. “Our commitment to Big Island residents and visitors alike is to provide them the highest quality of service and care. Our returning doctors, those new to our staff, and those physicians on island with privileges at North Hawaii Community Hospital recognize the benefits of our superior facility, the quality of care provided and our dedicated staff.” 

* Dr. William Park, general surgeon and director of minimally onvasive surgery, graduated from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Park interned in the Department of Surgery at UCLA’s School of Health Sciences and completed his surgical residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He then practiced at Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation, where he was chief of surgery, and at Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown, N.Y. where he was senior surgeon performing a full range of general surgical procedures and endoscopies, advanced laparoscopic surgeries and surgical endoscopy. He has been at North Hawaii Community Hospital since 2005. Park was instrumental in creating the Big Island ’s only advanced laparoscopic surgery suite for minimally invasive surgeries, also known as “endoscopic” or “keyhole” surgery, which opened in 2007 at NHCH. The benefits to patients who opt for minimally invasive operating techniques include smaller and less noticeable scars, reduced inpatient stay, and a shorter and less traumatic recovery period. Park is certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a member of the Society of American Gastroendoscopic Surgeons. 

* Dr. Jade Patti McGaff, board certified OB/GYN with the Waimea Women’s Center, is a respected physician with an island-wide practice that integrates a traditional OB/GYN practice and nutritional and holistic medical approaches, including the use of bioidentical hormones. She also works very closely with the outstanding midwives to offer gentle birth choices to families in our communities. A graduate of the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo, McGaff completed her OB/GYN residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston after which she practiced for nearly 18 years in Vancouver, Wash. She relocated to the Big Island in 2002 and has been with the Waimea Women’s Center since 2004.

* Dr. Rudolph Puana, anesthesiologist, received his BA from the University of Hawaii and his medical degree from Creighton University Medical School in Omaha, Neb. As part of his graduate education, he conducted biomedical research studies at Harvard University. Puana completed his residency training in anesthesiology at Texas A&M’s Scott and White Hospital and at University Hospital in Temple, Texas. This was followed by an anesthesiology critical care fellowship at the University of Texas Medical School and a year of clinical safety and effectiveness training at the university’s MD Anderson Cancer Center. Puana has most recently been anesthesiology critical care assistant professor and associate medical director in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the University of Texas Medical School, MD Anderson Cancer Center. Puana was a recipient of Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate Higher Education Honors Program and Scholarship for Native Hawaiian Health Care Development and is a published co-author of numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals. Board certified in anesthesiology and critical care medicine, Puana currently serves as assistant editor for the Internet Journal of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine.

* Dr. P.G. Rajan, a board certified gastroenterologist, obtained his medical degree from Madras University, India. After undergoing training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at Case Western University , Cleveland, Ohio, and completing his medical residency at Cleveland ’s Metro General Hospital, he practiced in Anaheim, Calif. for 30 years and also held positions as Clinical Assistant Professor at University of California, Irvine and medical director of gastrointestinal laboratory at Anaheim General Hospital. He has recently started private practice in Waimea with Dr. Ron Ahloy and NHCH. Dr. Raj, as he is known by his patients, and his wife Dr. Su Rajan, a professor of pathology at USC, love the Big Island and its people. They look forward to making this their final home. His special interest is colon cancer prevention.

* Dr. Michele Shimizu, family medicine with obstetrical privileges at North Hawaii Community Hospital, graduated from Kamehameha Schools and received her medical degree from the University of Hawaii. Shimizu completed her residency in family practice at Scottsdale Healthcare in Scottsdale, Ariz. followed by a fellowship in Obstetrics at the Central Texas Medical Foundation in Austin, Texas. She has practiced on Oahu for the last 10 years. Shimizu is board certified by the American Academy of Family Practice and on the board of Ahahui o na Kauka, an association for Hawaiian physicians with initiatives and projects to improve the health of Native Hawaiians. Her office is located in the Carter Professional Center in Waimea.

* Dr. Terry Smith, orthopedist, completed his undergraduate and medical school training at the University of Utah, graduating with honors (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Phi. Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Omega Alpha), after which he completed his orthopedic residency at the University of Hawaii, a spine fellowship at Louisiana State University and then returned to the University of Hawaii as a assistant professor of surgery for six years. His prior practice has included teaching as well as pioneering minimally invasive techniques in spine surgery. Smith believes successful treatment of orthopedic conditions requires active involvement and rapport between the patient, the primary care giver and the specialist.  He is board certified in orthopedics, a member of the North American Spine Society and the Association of American Orthopedic Surgeons.

North Hawaii Community Hospital, which was ranked as the No. 1 hospital in Hawaii and among the top 10 percent of hospitals in the nation among all hospitals reporting in the 2007 Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, is a 40-bed, full-service, acute-care medical center located in Waimea. It is ranked among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the entire United States that patients would recommend.  The community-owned, non-profit hospital is managed by Quorum Health Resources. It opened in May 1996 and serves the residents and visitors of the Big Island.

 — Find out more:
North Hawaii Community Hospital: www.NHCH.com

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