Name: Karen Uyeda
Age: 44
Position: Risk management director, St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii
First job: Waitress in Pennsylvania
Favorite pastimes: Bike riding

Managing risk, system-wide

Karen Uyeda takes over the responsibility of risk management for the entire St. Francis Healthcare System in Hawaii. This is the first time risk management has been at the St. Francis system level, she said.

"That's exciting," Uyeda said. "There is consistency in data collection and this improves the way we resolve issues."

She handles loss-prevention programs, workers' compensation, property loss, liability incidents, and work-related injuries and illnesses. Uyeda joined St. Francis Medical Center in 1981 as employment coordinator and was promoted to risk management director there in 1992.

She got a bachelor's degree in psychology at Ursinus College in Pennslyvania and executive master's in business administration at the University of Hawaii.

The St. Francis Healthcare System includes two hospitals, hospice, clinics and home care.

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By Jerry Tune, Star-Bulletin