Dr. Randall Holcombe, a renowned expert on colon cancer who is leading cancer care for a network of hospitals in New York City, was approved today to lead the University of Hawaii Cancer Center over the objections of a few members of the UH Board of Regents who cited concerns about the lack of a viable business plan for the center.

At its monthly meeting held today at the UH Cancer Center in Kakaako, the Board of Regents voted 10-2 to approve Holcombe’s appointment with a $410,004 annual salary, effective Sept. 1.

“We’re waiting for him to accept the now-approved formal offer,” Michael Bruno, UH-Manoa’s vice chancellor for research, said after the vote.

Holcombe, chief medical officer for cancer for Mount Sinai Health System, is expected to be charged with turning around the research center’s financial troubles and maintaining its coveted designation as a National Cancer Institute facility.

He holds several other titles within the organization, including deputy director for the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, director of the Derald H. Ruttenberg Treatment Center and director of ambulatory oncology at The Mount Sinai Hospital. He also is a professor of medicine in the Hematology and Medical Oncology Division at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

UH Cancer Center supporters and faculty researchers expressed support for Holcombe’s appointment, with many of the testifiers highlighting the need for a permanent director to lead the center.

But some regents expressed concerns about the timing of the hire.

The center’s controversial former director, Michele Carbone, resigned in November 2014, and Dr. Jerris Hedges, dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, has been serving as interim director since. The instability has left the center in limbo as lawmakers have been unwilling to invest more money into operations. Meanwhile, philanthropy and recruitment efforts have been hampered by turmoil surrounding the center’s previous leadership and the negative publicity that ensued.

Regent Ben Kudo, who voted against the hire, called it premature.

“I think it’s unfair to the candidate that this uncertainty is placed upon his acceptance of this position,” Kudo said before the vote. “In terms of my responsibility to the future of the Cancer Center, because I want to see it succeed, I don’t think that engaging a cancer center director, whoever it might be and however qualified he may be, is a wise thing to do when he doesn’t know what we’re supposed to do to keep this center sustainable and viable.”

Regent Jeffrey Portnoy, who voted in favor of the appointment, said, “The Cancer Center’s chance for survival is largely dependent on the right individual running it, and we’ve not had that person.”