BY JIM DOOLEY – The city has been trying unsuccessfully for years to hire a new director of 
the Medical Examiner’s Department, but the position has stayed vacant even though its salary has been bumped to $200,016 to attract qualified applicants.
The National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) cancelled the department’s certification here in 2010 because a qualified forensic pathologist was not heading the office.
After the retirement of the last such qualified professional, Dr. Kanthi DeAlwis, the city promoted a deputy in the office, Dr. William Goodhue, to be acting director of the department.
But Goodhue did not meet NAME’s certification criteria, so the organization downgraded Honolulu’s certification.
Then Goodhue retired last September, leaving the office not just uncertified but seriously short-staffed.
Now a retired investigator from the prosecutor’s office, who has no medical training, is calling himself acting director of the department. (see related story)
A new forensic pathologist has been hired here but the city is still recruiting a qualified Chief Medical Examiner and a deputy, said Managing Director Douglas Chin.
In the meantime, both DeAlwis and Goodhue have been performing autopsies under contracts with the city.
They are paid $600 per case – a fee that Chin said is “about 1/3 of the cost paid by other coroner systems in the State of Hawaii.”
In the fiscal year that ended last month, DeAlwis was paid $129,600 and Goodhue received $96,400, according to Chin.
“Both doctors in addition to performing autopsies have provided professional consultation (in-person office and off-hours by phone all-hours) to staff, created reports, and testified in court when necessary at no additional cost to the City,” said Chin.
The office has continued to be operated under NAME standards and once a forensic, board-certified chief medical examiner is hired, the city intends to re-apply for full certification, Chin said.
The problem in recruiting has been an acute national shortage of such individuals.
There are only approximately 500 Forensic Board Certified Pathologists in the U.S.,” said Chin. In Hawaii, the number is four.
“Consequently,” said Chin, “the recruitment and retention of Forensic Board Certified Pathologists are contested among Medical Examiner or Coroner offices in the U.S.
“There are not enough certified forensic pathologists to support the 2,000 or more Medical Examiner or Coroner offices in the country,” said Chin
“Presently, there are 68 NAME-accredited Medical Examiner or Coroner offices in 38 states out of about 2,000 Medical Examiner or Coroner offices in the United States.” he said.
Asked the status of the search for a new department head, Chin said, “the recruitment and selection of a Chief Medical Examiner is ongoing.”
[…] By Watchdog Staff / July 19, 2012 / No Comments Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); By Jim Dooley | Hawaii Reporter HONOLULU — The failure of the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Department to attract and retain a qualified forensic pathologist to head the department has resulted in its certification being downgraded and less staff members. And the department has bumped up the director’s salary to $200,016 in the hopes of luring a qualified applicant. In the United States, there are only approximately 500 forensic board certified pathologists. In Hawaii, that number is four. Read the complete story at HawaiiReporter.com. […]
I don’t know who Gayle Nakama is, but I can assure her that Kanthi De Alwis was NOT an excellent Medical Examiner. And her assistant, William Goodhue was downright incompetent. I speak from personal knowlege, not just rumor or hearsay. There are many reasons that De Alwis was able to keep her position for as long as she did. One is the simple fact stated in the article. A severe shortage of qualified pathologists. Another is the simple fact that if she wasn’t considered qualified, all the testimony she gave in criminal trials would be discounted and that would make the Prosecutors Office and the Police Department look very bad. The sad thing is, there were a few truly talented, exception people who tried to do the proper thing and conduct themselves appropriately. When they didn’t “play ball” and conspire with the rest to keep the cover-up intact; they were summarily terminated. I know most of the employees and have frequent contact with all the doctors in the Medical Examiner’s Office, and I can tell you for certain that a lot needs to be changed. Keeping Kanthi De Alwis on the team is the first, and most serious mistake. Goodhue, the second. And Bobby Lee is a joke.
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