Former TV news reporter Angela Keen will return to the health care industry Nov. 5 as the provider relations officer for Shriners Hospitals for Children, Honolulu.
Her former broadcast news industry-mate Mahealani Richardson, longtime KITV anchor, will become Keen’s industry-mate once again, as Richardson serves Shriners as director of public relations and physician liaison.
Keen stepped away from TV news initially in 2007 and worked in public relations at the Limtiaco Co. for a year before "Straub came knocking" in 2008, and she joined Straub Clinic & Hospital as manager of physician services.
All during her TV news years, her primary beat was health care, which provided her a bridge between vocations.
Then in 2012 her father in Nebraska fell ill, necessitating her return to the mainland. "Straub was so supportive," she said.
For part of the last couple of years, Keen has been a licensed marriage officiant and, more recently, a travel planner for Hawaii Aloha Travel who also performed weddings. She was able to work from home and to telecommute from Nebraska during trips back home, where she is now.
Then all of a sudden, Richardson "contacted me out of the blue. … I never thought there would be another opportunity to do something similar" to what she did at Straub, Keen said.
"I have a family connection to Shriners," Keen said. A cousin was severely burned in a childhood accident. "He was in intensive care. We didn’t think he was going to make it, and the family didn’t have any assistance," until Keen’s father asked for help from Shriners.
The cousin underwent treatment at Shriners’ burn unit in Houston, "and they saved his life."
He is now an executive at Cabela’s, an outfitting company for hunting, fishing, camping and other outdoor equipment, she said.
Keen started working in Hawaii TV news in January 1994, joining KGMB-TV as a reporter. She also served as a news and weather anchor during her almost 12 years at the station. She joined KHNL in 2005 and left in 2007.
Death by Chocolate
The subheadline above is the provocative title of an indulgent, ooey-gooey and delicious chocolate dessert served round the world, as well as the title of an upcoming event staged by the Hawaii Society of Business Professionals and the Hawaii Food Industry Association.
Hawaii is the only U.S. state with commercial cacao production, and the number of successful chocolatiers and bean-to-bar operations is on the rise.
Panelists at an HSBP/HFIA luncheon event will talk about their experiences in growing cacao, processing beans or creating specialized chocolate products, and also will offer their products for sale.
The Nov. 20 luncheon at the Hawaii Prince Hotel’s Mauna Kea Ballroom begins with registration at 11:30 a.m. Speakers will include award-winning master chocolatier and chef Philippe Padovani, founder of Padovani’s Chocolates; Derek Lanter, sales and marketing manager for Waialua Estate Coffee and Cacao; and Dylan Butterbaugh, founder and chocolatier at Manoa Chocolate Hawaii, a Kailua-based business launched in 2010.
Registration costs $38 for HSBP or HFIA members, or $45 for nonmembers until Nov. 17. Reservations must be made online via hsbp.biz.
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
