Hawaii State Health Planning & Development Agency gets new administrator
Hawaii Gov. David Ige has appointed Serafin “Jun” Colmenares Jr. as Hawaii State Health Planning & Development Agency (SHPDA) administrator. Previously, Colmenares Jr. was the acting administrator for the agency and concurrently serving as SHPDA Comprehensive Health Planning Coordinator, in which he provided staffing for health planning councils in West Oahu, Windward Oahu, Kauai and Maui.
As administrator, Colmenares oversees the State’s Certificate of Need (CON) program which regulates the construction, expansion, initiation or modification of a health care facility or services in the State of Hawaii. In addition, he has oversight of the State’s Health Services and Facilities Plan which addresses the health care needs of the State including inpatient care, healthcare facilities and special needs. The plan reflects the most economical and efficient system of care commensurate with adequate qualify of care and includes standards for utilization of health care facilities and major medical equipment.
“Jun’s expertise and wealth of experience in public health planning is a welcome addition to the Department of Health,” said Bruce Anderson, health director. “His experience in capacity building and community collaboration will be highly beneficial for enhancing the health care needs of our island community.”
Under his direction, SHPDA is also responsible for collecting health care utilization data from providers across the State which is produced into an annual Utilization Report. The report is used as a tool to assess health care services utilization, trends, needs, and costs by Certificate of Need (CON) applicants, providers, health market analysts, economists, researchers, etc.
Colmenares Jr. holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in addition to master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from the University of Delhi in India. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a graduate certificate in governmental management from Mindanao State University in the Philippines.
Prior to joining SHPDA, Colmenares Jr. established and served as executive director of the Office of Language Access between 2007 and 2015. During that time, he earned the 2013 William J. Harris Equal Opportunity Award from the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, for achieving a national standard of excellence in the development and implementation of an effective equal opportunity program in Hawaii.
Colmenares Jr. has also held positions at the Executive Office on Aging, Hawaii Community Foundation, Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) and East West Center Population Institute.
The State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA) promotes accessibility for all the people of the State of Hawaii to quality health care services at reasonable cost. SHPDA supports the most economical and efficient use of the health care system and resources through coordinated community planning of new health care services and construction. For more information, visit https://health.hawaii.gov/shpda/.
