Loretta Fuddy was a political appointee as director of the state Department of Health, but as a leader who rose through the ranks from social worker to division chief to deputy director, her staff knew she was truly one of them.
There was knowing laughter at a memorial for Fuddy on Thursday afternoon outside of Kinau Hale when Gary Gill, the department’s deputy director for environmental health administration, said Fuddy would want staff to help each other overcome the grief of her death in a plane crash off Molokai and move forward.
"As we know, Loretta Fuddy would be nagging us to do," Gill said, channeling Fuddy’s voice. "Get your documents in on time. Don’t leave all the editing for her to do at the end. Make sure your budget is balanced. Don’t lose sight of why we are here and who we serve."
Fuddy, who was appointed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie as director in 2011, had three decades of experience within the department and was a respected national figure on health services and public health administration.
Keith Yamamoto, the department’s deputy director, who survived the plane crash Wednesday, is first in line of succession. Abercrombie administration officials said Yamamoto and the department’s deputy directors in program-related management will lead the agency until the governor appoints a replacement.
Abercrombie and Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui attended the gathering outside Kinau Hale, where dozens of staff members and administration officials lined up to offer condolences to her family.
"She was totally committed to everyone here," Abercrombie said. "When something like this happens, you realize how completely dependent you were, how almost you took for granted that everything was going to be just fine because Loretta was in charge after all. And so you didn’t have to think about it; you know it was going to be done.
"So we’re all very grateful to her for the standards that she set for all of us."
The Health Department has an annual budget of about $900 million and oversees vital records, family health, behavioral health, mental health, environmental health, communicable disease, disease outbreak and emergency medical services and injury prevention. The department also has administrative oversight over Kalaupapa, the Hansen’s disease settlement on Molokai.
The department’s director is often drawn into public controversy, as Fuddy had been with the conspiracy theories over President Barack Obama’s birth certificate, the political drama about gay marriage and the health scare from diet supplements that caused liver failure.
Fuddy was the Abercrombie administration’s point person on an unsuccessful push for a soda fee that would have raised $37 million a year for obesity and chronic-disease prevention programs. She helped launch a public service campaign called "Rethink Your Drink" which urged teenagers to choose healthier beverages over soda.
She also had the politically unpopular obligation of defending the state’s marriage law from a federal lawsuit filed by gay couples who argued that the law was discriminatory. Abercrombie declined to defend the marriage law, and the lawsuit — Jackson v. Abercrombie — may be moot now that the state has legalized gay marriage.
Fuddy was regarded at the state Legislature as a trusted resource on family and human services issues, particularly the fights against obesity and mental illness.
"Loretta’s legacy is an enormous one, both from longevity and as an advocate for women and children and those in need," said state Sen. Josh Green (D, Naalehu-Kailua-Kona), an emergency room doctor and the chairman of the Senate Health Committee, who helped confirm Fuddy’s appointment as director.
Green said he would work with Abercrombie "to find the right person to carry on her work. And it’s going to be a challenge and will need to be a very specific type of person to live up to the standards that we’ve had the last three years."
State Rep. Della Au Belatti (D, Moiliili-Makiki-Tantalus), chairwoman of the House Health Committee, said Fuddy was "someone I knew I could go to and get honest answers."
"She was at the helm of so many initiatives that her leadership will be sorely missed," Belatti said. "I think moving forward — I think that she has a good team in place — I know that it’s a very challenging time for them now.
"I think we have to provide the room to grieve for her staff. Our hearts go out to them. But I also know that because of her legacy and how inspirational she was and how committed she was to her job, I know that folks will rise to the challenge."
