Hawai‘i Pacific Health has hired public relations executive John McNamara as its next senior vice president for marketing and communications.

For the past six years, McNamara has been president of the Honolulu-based public relations agency CommPac. Before that, McNamara spent 11 years as associate athletics director at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa where he oversaw UH’s external affairs, including marketing, media relations and advertising.

“We are excited to have John join Hawai‘i Pacific Health as he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with him, not only in the areas of marketing and communications but also in partnership development and community engagement,” Art Gladstone, HPH’s executive vice president and chief strategy officer, said in a news release.

McNamara said he was “excited and humbled” to be leading HPH’s marketing and communications department.

“HPH is an outstanding health care organization with dedicated physicians, nurses, staff and visionary leaders. I appreciate the faith that (president and CEO) Ray Vara and the HPH executive team have placed in me and I look forward to working collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders to promote HPH’s mission of creating a healthier Hawaii.”

McNamara starts his new position on Monday.

HPH is a nonprofit health care system with four medical centers in Hawaii – Kapi‘olani, Pali Momi, Straub and Wilcox.