Ige picks new Human Services leader

Gov. David Ige has selected Rachael Wong as the next director of the state Department of Human Services.

Wong, 42, is vice president and chief operating officer of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, the trade group for hospitals, long-term care facilities, home health agencies and hospices.

She will replace Pat Mc­Mana­man, whose term ended in November. Mc­Mana­man had been with the Abercrombie administration since 2010.

Wong, who started at the Healthcare Association in February 2012, didn’t return a call for comment.

She previously served as executive director of Kokua Mau, the state hospice and palliative care organization, and the Hawaii Consortium for Integrative Healthcare.

She received degrees from Princeton University, the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the University of North Caro­lina at Chapel Hill.

The new director takes over at a critical time as DHS deals with the homeless crisis in Hawaii, expansion of Medicaid under Obama­care, and improving public housing and child welfare services.

The Medicaid program has run into trouble recently as DHS launched its $140 million automated Kolea system more than a year ago, which has yet to be fully functional.

DHS also manages social services programs including foster care, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps) and Assistance to the Aged, Blind and Disabled.