Administration
Katherine Werner Brooks, MHA, BSN, joined NHH as Executive Director in 2008. Originally from Southern California, Katherine received her master’s degree in health care administration from Georgetown University. She began her career in nursing as an oncology nurse at St. John’s Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Later, she worked for many years as a manager of various healthcare organizations. She moved to Washington, D.C., and worked for a national trade association working to change healthcare policy. She has lived in Hawaii since 2006 and enjoys ocean swimming and SCUBA diving.
Colleen Norris, MBA, joined NHH in 2007 and currently serves as our Finance and Human Resource Director. A native of Hilo, Colleen is well-known in the North Hawaii community from her many years working in visible locations such as KTA and Parker School. Colleen received her master’s in business administration in 2006. Colleen handles all of the finance functions for our hospice. Colleen is the mother of four young adults and enjoys hula, needlepoint and singing.
Gayle Hubbard has served NHH since 2007, first as a volunteer and now as our Director of Development. Gayle was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, and she received her bachelor’s degree with distinction from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Gayle has completed coursework at the William S. Richardson School of Law and she holds a certificate in fundraising operations from Rice University. Gayle leads the fundraising and development functions in our office and supports all of our fundraising events.
Patient and Family Care Services
Jennifer Real, MD, serves as our Hospice Medical Director and directs the clinical care of all of our patients in coordination with our patients’ family physicians. Dr. Real was working as a hospitalist at North Hawaii Community Hospital when her sister-in-law, Rachel, joined our team as a hospice nurse. Dr. Real has had a special interest in hospice and has been working with us since 2015. She is always available to our clinical team, night and day. In her spare time, she enjoys bicycling and organic farming.
Katherine Cross serves as our Volunteer Manager. Katherine joined our team in 2018 after more than 24 years of working as an account manager and health promotion program educator for Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA). In that role, Katherine was serving the West Hawaii community by visiting many organizations to promote health. Katherine also has experience managing volunteers for the American Cancer Society in Honolulu. Katherine lives in Waimea and enjoys yoga, bicycling and being a bed and breakfast host.
Sandee Moiha, HA, has served NHH since 2012, first as a Hospice Aide and now she also serves as a Clinical Administrative Assistant. Sandee spent three years caregiving for her grandfather who died in 2005 on Oahu, then she relocated to Hawaii Island to do the same for her father. Sandee obtained a certified nursing assistant credential and worked at Life Care Center of Kona before joining NHH. She loves teaching volunteers her bedside skills and being able to use her experience as a caregiver for her family to support other families in North Hawaii.
Patient Care Delivery Team
Kaiki Gunderson-Cook, RN, CHPN, was born on Oahu and moved to Waimea when she was three years old. She wanted to become a veterinarian and completed her bachelor’s degree in animal science at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. She worked as a vet tech before moving to New Zealand in 2008, hoping to go to veterinary school there. She moved back to Waimea and went to nursing school at Hawaii Community College. After graduating from nursing school, she worked as a home health nurse for a year before joining our team as a Nurse Case Manager in 2013. Kaiki enjoys being able to give back to the community. When she is not working as a hospice nurse, she volunteers as a board member and dog trainer for Hawaii Fi-Do Service Dogs to assist the growing need on Hawaii Island.
Nina Millar, RN, is a 30+ year resident of Hawaii Island. She became a registered nurse in 1990, after attending the University of Hawaii at Hilo. She is also a midwife, graduating from the Midwifery Program at the Maternity Center in Texas in 1983. Armed with this unusual combination of practices, which includes several years as a home health care nurse, Nina feels lucky to be present at both the beginning and the end of lives here in North Hawaii. Nina is an After-Hours Nurse for NHH.
Monica Newcomb, RN, BS, CHPN, joined our hospice team as a Nurse Case Manager in 2017. Monica moved to Hawaii Island from Poughkeepsie, New York, where she was working for Hudson Valley Hospice. Monica began her career getting a degree in biology from Syracuse University and then attended nursing school. She has worked in several capacities at various hospices for 17 years. She and her husband live in Waikoloa and are Hawaii Preparatory Academy parents.
Christine Richardson, RN, has served our hospice for many years as an On-Call Nurse, serving patients in North Kohala. She has lived and worked as a registered nurse on Hawaii Island for more than 20 years and was one of two nurses sponsored by NHH to go to Zimbabwe to work with our “sister hospice.”
Sandy Sproat, MSW, LSW, joined our hospice team as a Medical Social Worker in 2017. Sandy received her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from Brigham Young University in Laie, Hawaii, and her Master of Social Work at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is a long-time resident of Hawaii Island and has also worked with kidney dialysis patients at Liberty Dialysis at North Hawaii Community Hospital. Prior to her social work career, she was an educational assistant at Waimea Middle School. Sandy has also worked at Hawaii Preparatory Academy and Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center.
