Dr. Virginia "Ginny" Pressler will become head of the state Department of Health on Jan. 1, taking on a key role as Hawaii seeks to transform its health-care system into a more modern and efficient operation.

Gov. David Ige appointed Pressler on Friday to serve as director of the department responsible for disease prevention and control, emergency medical services, maternal and child health programs, mental health services and the troubled Hawaii State Hospital, which is contending with allegations pertaining to workplace safety threats and management misconduct.

When asked why she is taking the job, Pressler said: "I have a great deal of respect for Gov. Ige and the team he is putting together."

The team includes Rachael Wong, who was recently named head of the Department of Human Services, and former DOH director Linda Rosen, appointed as CEO of the Hawaii Health Systems Corp., which runs 12 rural hospitals that are facing a daunting deficit and possible closures.

"I am very much looking forward to working with the wonderful people at the DOH again," Pressler said.

Pressler, 65, previously was at the Health Department from 1999 to 2002, serving as deputy director for Health Resources Administration. She played a key role in obtaining 60 percent of the $1.3 billion tobacco settlement fund for public health purposes and initiated the Tobacco Trust Fund, Healthy Hawaii Initiative, Hawaii Outcomes Institute and Hawaii Uninsured Project, according to a press release.

"Public health is underappreciated in the state," she said. "I want to raise awareness in this state about the importance of public health. We take it for granted because … it’s hard to measure prevention."

Pressler, previously a general surgeon specializing in breast cancer, now serves as executive vice president and chief strategic officer at Hawaii Pacific Health, a position she describes as the "best job in the world." The private nonprofit health system includes Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, Straub Clinic & Hospital, Pali Momi Medical Center and Wilcox Hospital & Kauai Medical Clinic on Kauai.

"Ginny has more than 35 years of experience in the medical field and has held administrative positions for more than two decades," Ige said in a statement. "A well-respected member of Hawaii’s medical and business communities, Ginny’s wealth of knowledge and experience equips her to lead the Department of Health."

Among her first orders of business, Pressler said she will seek to bring the public sector in line with the private sector, which has made strides in the use of information technology to improve patient care and reduce costs.

"There are efficiencies the private sector has adopted that could be applied to the state hospitals as well," she said. "There’s a lot we can do with the public health side of the equation in order to bring public health and private health care closer together."

In addition, Pressler said she will lobby for enabling legislation that would allow the HHSC hospitals to partner with or be sold to a private group to control costs and improve health outcomes.

"We truly are transforming health care on the private side so that quality is the major focus and patients, being a key member of their team, are having access to the information and support that they need to take better care of their health," Pressler said. "We’re using all kinds of tools with the use of technology to provide our physicians with the latest and best standards of care. Health IT (information technology) has been a critical enabler of all this transformation."

In addition, Pressler said she will focus on collaborating with other state agencies and the private sector to improve things such as immunizations for children and chronic diseases, particularly in lower-income communities.

Earlier this week, Hawaii was named the healthiest state in the nation, claiming the top spot for two years straight in America’s Health Rankings.

"We always look good when you look at the data all put together, but when you start dissecting it, you’re looking at certain communities that have big differences in health," she said. "That is another thing that is the responsibility of DOH — to address and work with the private sector to fix some of these disparities in health outcomes and in disease prevalence."