Dr. Vijak Ayasanonda is well-known for his collaborative and team-centered approach to planning and implementing new processes, protocols and services.

WAILUKU — Maui Health announced that Vijak Ayasanonda, MD, was appointed Maui Memorial Medical Center (MMMC) Medical Staff’s new chief of staff effective Jan. 1, 2022. He is responsible for providing leadership and guidance to the MMMC Medical Staff and promoting effective communication between the staff and Maui Health administration.

Dr. Ayasanonda has over 20 years of experience as a physician and has spent the last 16 years as an emergency medicine physician in Hawaii as part of Emergent Medical Associations’ physician group.

In 2008, he relocated to Maui from Queens Medical Center on Oahu to care for Maui residents and visitors in MMMC’s Emergency Department (ED) and has been an active member of MMMC’s Medical Staff, previously serving as the Emergency Medicine chair.

“Over the years, I have seen the evolution of our hospital into a center of health care and resources for our community,” said Ayasanonda. “The pandemic, as challenging as it has been, has brought our community and hospitals closer than ever before with more cooperation and communication both within and outside our hospital walls. I intend to continue this momentum and build on the incredible work and accomplishments of Past Chief of Staff Dr. Constantin Novoselsky, who I am grateful for, and to the great medical staff leaders before him.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, he has been actively involved in Maui Health’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and has helped create and implement surge plans to ensure Emergency Departments at MMMC, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital can quickly expand bed capacity and resources to care for a surge in patients due to COVID-19. He is also an advocate for continued communication with providers and community members and frequently volunteers for outreach and education opportunities in the community.

Dr. Ayasanonda earned his Doctor of Medicine from Wayne State University of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan, and completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. His professional memberships include American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Medical Association, where he is active in both the national and local (Hawaii) branches.