Honolulu medical examiner resigns, will return to Los Angeles

Honolulu will be searching for a new chief medical examiner who will face a backlog of pending autopsies following the resignation of Dr. Christopher Happy last week.

Happy, who earned $310,200 annually, submitted his resignation in a letter to Mayor Kirk Caldwell dated Thursday after six years on the job.

In his letter, Happy said he plans to resign on Halloween and return to his home in Los Angeles “to attend to a family member’s illness.”

Happy completed 751 autopsy reports between Oct. 17, 2016, and Thursday, according to city spokesman Andrew Pereira. Another 896 autopsy reports are pending.

Dr. Masahiko (Mike) Kobayashi has been named acting chief medical examiner.

In his resignation letter, Happy wrote:

“I would like to thank the staff of the Medical Examiner’s office for the hard work and utmost professionalism they exhibit daily. The Office has gone through many changes in the past 6 years and is now able to receive accreditation from the National Association of Medical Examiners.

“Although I regret that I will not be able to see the Office through this process, I must return home to Los Angeles to attend to a family member’s illness.”

There may be more to Happy’s resignation.

Council Chairman Ikaika Anderson said then-Acting Mayor Roy Amemiya telephoned him Thursday “to inform me that Dr. Happy was being dismissed for cause.”

Amemiya, the city’s managing director, was filling in for Caldwell, who was out of town.

“The Managing Director told me that in order to dismiss the Medical Examiner, the city charter requires a public hearing before the council and information (about Happy’s dismissal) would be available at that hearing,” Anderson said. “Then I understand he resigned.”

Councilwoman Kymberly Pine said Happy twice requested additional funds for the Medical Examiner’s Office for more staff. The office is in Iwilei next to the Institute for Human Services, which operates Hawaii’s largest homeless shelters.

“I remember being shocked by the conditions where they had to walk over homeless people and feces,” Pine said. “He described substandard facilities and said they didn’t have enough medical people to perform and assist with all of the autopsies. I felt there was something wrong with that.”

When Happy testified during a second budget cycle, “they still didn’t have another doctor and were short other staff, as well,” Pine said.

Happy did not provide an explanation of why his office was short-staffed, Pine said, but he said there were difficulties recruiting new people.

Happy replaced Dr. Kanthi De Alwis, “who stayed on in an acting capacity” until Happy took over, Anderson said.

“I’m concerned that it took a long time for the city to acquire the services of Dr. Christopher Happy as the city’s Medical Examiner,” Anderson said. “It could very well take a long time before the city has a new Medical Examiner, rather than an acting one.”

Anderson called Happy “a good and honest man.”

“I sincerely thank Dr. Happy for his service to the people of the City and County of Honolulu and I’m sad to see him leave,” Anderson said.