Page 7 - MidWeek Kauai - Jan 12, 2022

Keeping Straub Strong To Meet Future Generations’ Medical Needs
“We’ve made ongoing communications with the neighborhood boards and area residents a priority. We are grateful to the kamaʻāina families that agreed to either sell or lease their land parcels to us and their recognition of the importance of the rede- velopment of Straub.”
One accolade in particu- lar stands out in Gladstone’s mind.
“I was finishing my nurs- ing degree (in Canada). I was at the college library flipping through a nursing journal and I came upon an advertisement that read ʻCa- nadian nurses come to Ha- wai‘i,’ ” Gladstone recalls.
“Personally, I’m most proud of Straub Medical Center being the only hos- pital in Hawaiʻi to receive the Healthgrades America’s
He holds a bachelor’s de- gree in nursing, a master’s degree in business adminis- tration and is a fellow of the
He found work locally in the medical field, and he reminisces that he’s pleased with his life’s journey.
“I always had very good mentors along the way ... And one of the things I real- ly enjoy in my current role is being a mentor to some of our younger leaders,” Gladstone shares.
Gladstone and wife Mi- chelle have three children: son Keegan, and two daugh- ters, Jenessa and Leia. The family’s relocation to the islands came about after a happy coincidence.
JANUARY 12, 2022 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK 7
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nificance of the land that sur- rounds this project seriously and worked closely with the necessary groups and indi- viduals. The entire health care campus, which is more than five acres, falls within the Thomas Square/Honolu- lu Academy of Arts Special Design District,” Gladstone explains.
Ocean did not have to limit health care. His solution was to establish Hawai‘i’s first specialized medical clinic,” Gladstone adds. “This rede- veloped health care campus will continue to create more opportunities for patients to stay in Hawai‘i for all the care they need with Straub’s state-of-the-art facilities and advanced technology.”
In 1921, Dr. Straub and his early partners formed The Clinic, with a new concept of group practice that would bring together specialists to provide the finest expert care available in the islands. By 1933, The Clinic moved to its current location and had nine doctors and a staff of 14. By 1973, it became Straub Clin- ic & Hospital after expanding to a building with 159 private rooms and a 24-hour emer- gency outpatient facility. In the hospital’s first decade of care, the staff grew from 228 to 480. Today, Straub still op- erates out of that same build- ing, but now has more than 500 physicians and 1,700 employees.
Gladstone shares that Straub’s sports medicine physicians and orthopedic surgeons are recognized as among some of the best in the nation, and have per- formed many medical firsts in the state. Meanwhile, the center’s physicians are also acclaimed for their expertise in cardiovascular care.
Hawai‘i Pacific Health. He began his career with Ha- wai‘i Pacific Health in 1990 as a registered nurse at Pali Momi and through the years, has been promoted within the organization to a variety of positions.
American College of Health- care Executives. An active member in the community, he is on a number of boards such as Hawai‘i Pacific University trustees and is currently chair of the board of directors for the Healthcare Association of Hawai‘i. Gladstone enjoys serving locally in a variety of ways to help educate and de- velop future leaders. For ex- ample, he’s a huge college basketball fan and has been a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa season ticket holder since 1991. He’s even been the team’s booster club president for the past four years.
“The reason I do that is because I love the sport. But more importantly, I love to support a program that is very well run,” he explains. “The coaching staff and the people involved with the program are really stellar individuals who really see their goal in life of helping young men to achieve the
best they can achieve on the court, but more importantly, off the court.”
Straub Medical Center has a long and storied history in Hawai‘i. Its founding physi- cian, Dr. George F. Straub, even attended to the medical needs of Queen Lili‘uokala- ni. He arrived in the islands from Germany and conceived the idea of forming a group of physicians into a practice in order to provide better, more specialized care for his patients.
“The career opportunities and the support from the or- ganization has always kept us here. I’ m very grateful that I’ ve had the opportuni- ties within the organization, as well as being able to raise my family in a beautiful state like Hawai‘i,” he says.
Dr. Straub was also known for his preference for wearing wooden shoes in the operat- ing room.
Straub and Hawai‘i Pacif- ic Health have a plethora of achievements. For example, Gladstone notes that Straub has the only burn center in the state, which opened in 1983 and continues to treat more than 100 patients a year.
250 Best Hospitals Award two years in a row in 2020 and 2021, as well as finish- ing in the top 5% nationally in clinical excellence. The reason it means so much to me is because our patients are the ones who deemed Straub worthy of this award,” Glad- stone emphasizes.
A native of Canada, the 57-year-old Gladstone has filled the roles of executive vice president and chief strategy officer with Hawai‘i Pacific Health since January 2020. He previously served as chief executive officer of Pali Momi and Straub, and chief nurse executive for
“His quote is one that res- onates with all of us still to- day — ‘I had a vision that we could create a clinic where patients always come first and where the health needs of the entire family could be met under one roof,’ ” Gladstone declares.
Gladstone is also exceed- ingly proud of the people who work there.
“Straub Medical Center has made Dr. Straub’s vision its guiding principle since its founding. Dr. Straub rec- ognized that being isolated in the middle of the Pacific
“As an organization, we want to be a workplace of choice. We were honored in August 2021 by Forbes as the best employer in Hawai‘i, ac- cording to a nationwide rank- ing of “America’s Best Em- ployers” by state,” he says.
(Top from left) Dr. Les Chun, chief executive officer of Hawai‘i Pacific Health Medical Group; Dr. Bob Schulz, Straub physician and Redevelopment Campaign Committee member; Dr. John Balfour, Straub physician; Art Gladstone, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, Hawai‘i Pacific Health; and Dr. Ed Weldon, Straub physician and foundation board member participate in the recent groundbreaking for the new Straub Medical Center.
(Above) A rendering of Straub’s new future health care campus. PHOTOS COURTESY HAWAI‘I PACIFIC HEALTH