Hospice Maui appoints new CEO

Hospice Maui announced that Melanie Dwyer has been appointed the new CEO of the organization. Dwyer served as the Interim CEO since January 2022, after Hospice Maui’s former CEO, Greg LaGoy, died suddenly on January 4. Her appointment took effect on April 30, 2022.

Dwyer started her journey with Hospice Maui in 2016 as an RN in Hospice Maui Hale after a 13-year nursing career in an acute care hospital setting on the mainland. In 2017 she assumed the Hale Nurse Manager role. She then transitioned into the role of Nursing Director in 2019.

When the COVID-19 pandemic started it became apparent that Hospice Maui needed a clinical leader to oversee daily operations of the entire clinical program. Former CEO Gregory LaGoy appointed Dwyer as Hospice Maui’s Clinical Director in 2020.

“From day one I recognized how special and unique Hospice Maui is as a healthcare organization. At Hospice Maui we always lead with the heart with every decision we make when it comes to both our patients and our team,” said Dwyer. “It is inspiring to work for an organization that pauses to focus on the truly important questions: what is best for the patient and the family, and how do we support our team to give the kind of care we all want for ourselves and our loved ones. Hospice Maui was created, shaped, and maintained through the dedication of our team of staff, volunteers, and board of directors for the last 40 years. I am deeply humbled and honored to carry on and build upon Hospice Maui’s strong foundation of values and culture to meet the needs of our Maui community.”

Msgr. Terrence Watanabe, President of Hospice Maui’s Board of Directors, said, “The Board of Directors of Hospice Maui is very pleased with the selection of Melanie Dwyer as the new CEO of our agency. She is a very competent and caring person who has an intimate relationship with the organization being the former Clinical Director. She has great compassion for others and is sensitive to their needs and the needs of their families. As we look to the future, we are very pleased to present Ms. Dwyer to the community and I know that Melanie will represent us well in the years ahead.“

Hospice Maui provides hospice services to dying people and their families in their home, in the Hospice Maui Hale, and in assisted living facilities. Their work is to provide physical comfort and emotional and spiritual support for people who are terminally ill, while supporting and assisting their families, both before the death and while they are grieving.