Kaiser Permanente has hired a new president for the Hawaii region.

Dave Underriner will begin as head of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals of Hawaii in mid-May, the company said today.

Underriner most recently was executive vice president and chief executive officer at Providence Health & Services, a nonprofit network of hospitals, health plans, physicians and clinics similar to Kaiser.

He has held various positions over the past 35 years, and was most recently responsible for strategy and operations for the Oregon region that includes eight acute care hospitals, 90 medical clinics and more than 3,650 active medical staff. He also was involved in operations of the health plan, which has more than 650,000 members.

Kaiser — both a medical provider and health insurer — is the state’s largest health-maintenance organization with more than 255,000 members statewide.