Three Maui Memorial Medical Center staff members win statewide honors; hospital earns 18th straight AHA recognition

Three Maui Memorial Medical Center employees received statewide awards in October, and the Wailuku hospital earned national heart and stroke care recognition for the 18th consecutive year, Maui Health announced.

Haley DeForest, a registered nurse, was named an Outstanding Young Alumni Awardee by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Nursing Alumni Association. Dr. Michael Firstenberg received the 2026 Physician of the Year award, and Traci Hashiro received the 2026 Distinguished Service Award. Firstenberg’s and Hashiro’s honors are peer awards presented by the Healthcare Association of Hawaiʻi.

“Haley, Dr. Firstenberg and Traci each make a difference in very different ways, but they all share a commitment to serving others and strengthening health care for our community,” Maui Health CEO Wade Ebersole said.

The honorees

DeForest works as a float pool nurse at the hospital, caring for patients across a range of units. According to Maui Health, she is president-elect of the Hawaiʻi American Nurses Association and traveled to Washington, D.C., earlier this year to represent Hawaiʻi nurses in health care policy discussions. The alumni association’s award recognizes emerging nurses who show leadership and contribute to their profession and communities.

Firstenberg is a cardiothoracic surgeon who has worked to expand cardiovascular care on Maui and Lānaʻi, according to Maui Health. The health system said he helped bring the Impella heart pump to Maui and took part in the first Impella procedure on the island. Maui Health said the device has helped patients who might not have survived a transfer off island.

Hashiro is supervisor of administrative support. Maui Health said she has improved operations across the system through process changes, resource development and daily operational leadership. The health system said she became a central point of contact for logistics, coordination and communication during the 2023 Lahaina wildfires.

Firstenberg and Hashiro received their awards Oct. 24 at the Healthcare Association of Hawaiʻi’s Awards & Scholarship Gala in Honolulu.

Heart and stroke recognition

The hospital also earned American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines awards for the 18th year in a row, receiving four awards:

• Heart Failure Gold Plus, with Target: Heart Failure Optimal and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.
• Stroke Gold Plus, with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.
• Resuscitation Silver, for adherence to guidelines for treating in-hospital cardiac arrest.
• Commitment to Quality Award, given to hospitals that earn Silver or higher awards in three or more Get With The Guidelines modules.

Maui Health said the hospital is one of three in Hawaiʻi and one of 222 nationwide to receive the Commitment to Quality Award. It said the hospital has held Gold Plus recognition for more than 12 consecutive years and is one of three in Hawaiʻi with Gold Plus awards for both heart failure and stroke.

Heart disease and stroke together account for more than one in four deaths in the United States, according to the American Heart Association. Maui Health said the awards recognize teams’ consistent use of evidence-based guidelines to support timely treatment and quality care for patients with cardiovascular conditions and stroke.

Maui Memorial Medical Center is the only acute care hospital in Maui County, according to Maui Health, which operates community hospitals and outpatient clinics serving Maui and Lānaʻi. More information about the award recipients is available at mauihealth.org/awards.