About Department of Health

Director of Health

Kenneth S. Fink, MD, MGA, MPH has served as Director of the Hawai‛i Department of Health since January 9, 2023 after being appointed by Gov. Josh Green.

Dr. Fink has extensive public and private sector experience.

Prior to joining DOH, Dr. Fink worked as the Vice President for Medicare & Medicaid Programs at HMSA. Before that he was the Director of Student Health Services for Kamehameha Schools.

His government work includes serving as the State Medicaid Director for Hawai‘i, the Chief Medical Officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Region 10, and the Director of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the Evidence-based Practice Centers programs at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Dr. Fink was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, Kerr White Visiting Scholar, and Excellence in Government Fellow. He attended Haverford College, received combined Medical Doctor and Master of Government Administration degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, and was awarded a Master of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). He completed residencies in family medicine at the University of Washington and preventive medicine at UNC.

Dr. Fink is board certified in both family medicine, and general preventive medicine and public health. He has been awarded the degree of Fellow by both the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Preventive Medicine.

In addition, Dr. Fink retired as a Colonel in the United States Air Force. He is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and served as both the Chief of Aerospace Medicine and the Medical Group Commander in the Hawai‘i Air National Guard.

 

Deputy Director of Health

Valerie M. Kato was appointed to serve as the Deputy Director of Health, effective July 27, 2023.  Kato has previously served as the Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Health Division,  providing legal services to the Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH), and as First Deputy Attorney General under AG Holly T. Shikada.  Before entering public service, she was in private practice for 17 years, mainly with the law firm of Ning Lilly & Jones, and also formerly clerked for Judge Corinne K.A. Watanabe at the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals.  She earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C.  and earned her B.A. in English from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. As Deputy Director of Health, Kato heads the DOH administrative offices, which oversees the Administrative Services Office (ASO), Health Information Systems Office (HISO), Human Resources Office (HRO), Office of Health Status Monitoring (OHSM), Office of Planning, Policy and Program Development (OPPPD), Office of Affirmative Action (OAA) and the District Health Offices (DHOs).

 

 

 

Deputy Director of Health Resources

Debbie Kim Morikawa was appointed to serve as Deputy Director of Health Resources at the Department of Health, effective February 21, 2023. Morikawa earned a B.S. in Occupational Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. She previously served as Director of the C&C of Honolulu Department of Community Services where she oversaw a range of human services, workforce development and housing programs. Her experience in nonprofit management began as the first Executive Director of the Institute for Human Services and later as the Vice President of Programs at Lanakila Pacific. In the private sector, she served as the administrator of the first assisted living facility in Hawaii, Ponds at Punalu’u, and later as the Director of Human Resources and Organizational Development at HawkTree International. Prior to her appointment, Morikawa operated and still owns GYMGUYZ, an in-home personal training company. As Deputy Director of Health Resources, she oversees Communicable Disease and Public Health Nursing, Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Disease Outbreak Control, Emergency Medical Services & Injury Prevention, Family Health Services, Office of Healthcare Assurance and Office of Medical Cannabis Control.

 

 

 

Deputy Director of Environmental Health

Kathleen Ho was appointed to serve as Deputy Director of Environmental Health at the Department of Health, effective July 1, 2021. Ho has served as Deputy Attorney General of the Health Division, Department of the Attorney General since 1992. She earned her J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, her LL.M in environmental law from Lewis and Clark Law School in Oregon, and a B.S. in Biology from the University of San Francisco. As Deputy Director of Environmental Health, Ho oversees all environmental regulatory issues and protection for the state. This includes oversight of the department’s Environmental Management Division, Environmental Health Services Division, State Laboratories Division, Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Office, Environmental Resources Office, and Compliance Assistance Office.

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Deputy Director of Behavioral Health

Marian Tsuji, MA Marian Tsuji was appointed to serve as Deputy Director of Behavioral Health at the Department of Health, effective June 28, 2021. Tsuji served as the O‘ahu Branch Administrator, state Department of Human Services, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation since 2020. She also spent 14 years as president and CEO of Lanakila Pacific, a social services organization that includes programs for adults with disabilities. Tsuji earned her M.A. in criminal justice from City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and a B.A. in sociology and criminal justice from Long Island University, C.W. Post College. The Deputy Director of Behavioral Health assists the Director of Health in the management and administration of behavioral health programs and services and provides leadership as the state mental health and substance abuse authority. The deputy oversees four divisions: Adult Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Alcohol and Substance Abuse, and Developmental Disabilities.