{"id":126465,"date":"2020-09-04T10:23:43","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T20:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=126465"},"modified":"2024-03-15T13:58:11","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T23:58:11","slug":"libby-char-named-doh-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/09\/04\/libby-char-named-doh-director\/","title":{"rendered":"JABSOM<\/abbr> alum, ER<\/abbr> physician to lead Hawai\u02bbi Department of Health"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"libby
Char at the JABSOM<\/abbr> 50th Anniversary Scholarship Fundraising Gala (Photo courtesy: David Au)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elizabeth “Libby” Char,<\/strong> University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (JABSOM<\/abbr>) alumna, assistant clinical professor of surgery and an emergency room physician, has been appointed by Gov.<\/abbr> David Ige to serve as interim director of the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Department of Health (DOH<\/abbr>), effective September 16. Char replaces Bruce Anderson, who announced his retirement in late August.<\/p>\n

\"Libby
Elizabeth “Libby” Char<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Dr. Char brings experience in medicine and administration to the department during a time of great stress on the state\u2019s healthcare system. I\u2019m confident that she will step into the role with energy and passion for ensuring the health of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s people,” said Ige in a news release.<\/p>\n

“I am honored to fill the position of director of health for the State of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>. We are in a difficult position, with a heavy burden of COVID-19<\/abbr> affecting the health, well-being and livelihood of so many of us. We must move forward together, through collaborative efforts, caring for each other with a shared sense of purpose. In doing so, we will regain the health of our communities and our state,” stated Char in the news release. <\/p>\n

More on Char<\/h2>\n

A graduate of JABSOM<\/abbr>, Char returned to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> after completing residency training in California to practice emergency medicine at Queen\u2019s Medical Center. She has a wealth of clinical and administrative experience, previously serving as the State of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> EMS<\/abbr> district medical director for Oʻahu<\/span>. She provided administrative oversight for the City and County of Honolulu EMS<\/abbr> system for many years and has expertise in training EMS<\/abbr> providers in the state of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>. <\/p>\n

In 2011, Char served as chairperson of the Health and Medical Planning committee for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, involving 21 heads of economies and approximately 10,000 attendees. She coordinated public and private hospitals, emergency medical responders, and county, state and federal agencies, in providing health and medical support and response for the international event. <\/p>\n

“Dr. Char will add much value in her new role. She brings extensive experience working with the state and city\/county health enterprises. They value her collaborative leadership style that manages both the big picture and key details,” said JABSOM<\/abbr> Dean Jerris Hedges<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Recently, Char was awarded the Eagles 2020 Michael Keys Copass Award<\/a> for her service, contributions and leadership in out-of-hospital emergency care and for serving as a role model for EMS<\/abbr> personnel and fellow 911 system medical directors across the nation. She represented Honolulu in the Eagles, a coalition of EMS<\/abbr> medical directors from major U.S.<\/abbr> municipalities and counterparts around the world.<\/p>\n

Char currently focuses her efforts on developing systems of care, training, protocols and emergency response utilizing best practices in the pre-hospital environment. She provides medical direction for several EMS<\/abbr> and fire agencies across the state. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elizabeth “Libby” Char has been appointed interim director of the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Department of Health, effective September 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[90,1411,598,31,9,1626],"class_list":["post-126465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-alumni","tag-covid-19","tag-faculty-recognition","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-uh-manoa","tag-women-of-uh","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126465"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126488,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126465\/revisions\/126488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}