Shidler College of Business 60th Anniversary

Virginia Pressler, MD, MBA, FACS (MBA ’74)

Executive Vice President and Chief Strategic Officer, Hawai‘i Pacific Health

Virginia Pressler is executive vice president and chief strategic officer for Hawai‘i Pacific Health (HPH), a non-profit healthcare network that includes Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children, Straub Clinic & Hospital, Pali Momi Medical Center, and Wilcox Hospital & Kauai Medical.

Dr. Pressler started her career in business right out of college as a management trainee at Bank of Hawai‘i. She enrolled in the MBA program at the Shidler College of Business at the University of to further her business knowledge, graduating with honors in 1975. In 1976, she left banking to pursue a career in medicine.

Today, Dr. Pressler relies on both her business and medical background as chief strategic officer for Hawai‘i Pacific Health and is responsible for specialty service line development, philanthropy, and government relations. She also serves as president and chair of HPH Partners, the subsidiary of Hawai‘i Pacific Health that oversees all joint ventures.

Previously, Dr. Pressler was deputy director of the Hawai‘i State Department of Health, president & CEO of the Premier Plan, vice president at The Queen’s Health Systems, director of Surgical Education and associate professor of surgery at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, and operated a private practice in general surgery.

Dr. Pressler has been involved with the American Cancer Society for more than 20 years serving as past president of the Hawai‘i Pacific Division and a National Assembly Delegate for the American Cancer Society. She is a commissioner on the Statewide Health Coordinating Council and has served on several state commissions and task forces. Some of her notable accomplishments include the initiation of the Tobacco Trust Fund, the Healthy Hawai‘i Initiative, the Hawai‘i Uninsured Project, and the Hawai‘i Comprehensive Cancer Control Program.

Dr. Pressler has received numerous awards, including those from the American Cancer Society, Planned Parenthood, Hawai‘i Medical Association, Healthcare Association of Hawai‘i, YWCA, and others.

Dr. Pressler grew up on Maui, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University, and an MBA, MS in physiology, and MD degrees from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.