Honorary Dinners
Honoring those who have made great contributions to the to the East Hawai'i Region and Hawai'i Island.
Herb Segawa
September 2016
Jerry Chang
August 2018
Herb Segawa
It is with great pride, honor and respect that the Hilo Benioff Medical Center Foundation honored Herb Segawa in September 2016 for his contributions to Hawai'i Island. In the early 1970s Herb became one of the 51 Hawaii State House of Representatives and was elected by his peers to serve as Chairman of the House Health Committee in his first year in office.
Subsequently, Herbert was re-elected in five consecutive elections to serve as a legislator and served as Health Committee chairman for the next eight years (served last two years as majority floor leader) to become a major driving force in Hilo’s quest to build a new hospital; Hilo Medical Center.
In later years, serving as an administrator at Hilo Medical Center, Herb had the vision to create a foundation to support our local hospital and community in the delivery of quality health care to meet the needs of our growing community. Hence, Hilo Medical Center Foundation was created in 1995.
We cannot thank Herb enough for his dedication to our Hawaii Island community!
Jerry Chang
It is with great pride, honor and respect that the Hilo Medical Center Foundation honored Jerry Chang in August 2018 for his contributions to Hawai’i Island. Jerry served 12 consecutive terms, chairing the Tourism and Culture, Higher Education and eventually the Water, Land and Ocean Resources Committee before leaving the legislature in 2012. Many of the Capital Improvement projects in East Hawaii and especially on the UH Hilo campus and DOE schools were funded and built during his term in office.
Jerry is currently the Director of University Relations at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo and continues to contribute to his community in many organizations; including the Hilo Medical Center Foundation where he is witnessing firsthand his legislative endeavors thriving through the Foundation’s workforce development programs. He is the President of the Big Island Sports Hall of Fame, and Vice President of the Rock ‘n Roll Motorcycle Club which runs the Hilo Toys for Tots campaign.
