Dr. Aldo Fusaro, the new Whatcom County Medical Examiner, has nearly 29 years of forensic pathology experience, and he is ready to take the helm of the newly minted county ME department. He says it will be the biggest challenge of his career.
Fusaro became interim ME in September following an independent investigation into the previous ME, Allison Hunt, after her office improperly stored human remains at a local funeral home as the county morgue was undergoing renovations.
Fusaro was appointed to the ME position on Dec. 9 by Whatcom County Council but will start full time on Dec. 16.
During the appointment process, Whatcom County Council member Ben Elenbaas, who was involved in the interview process, said he found Fusaro kind and insightful.
“As he’s served as the interim medical examiner, the feedback I’ve gotten from the people that have worked with him … I’ll quote one: ‘It’s like a breath of fresh air,’” Elenbaas said.
Whatcom County Council voted unanimously on Dec. 3 to establish a medical examiner department. The role was previously contracted out, which some county officials believe led to a lapse in oversight and accountability. Fusaro has already built a new team, only retaining two staff positions from the previous department.
Fusaro sat down with Cascadia Daily News for an interview about his plans for the office, why he finds his work challenging and what happens next. The answers have been edited for clarity.
CDN: How did you become a medical examiner, and figure out this line of work is for you?
Fusaro: I didn’t want to be a medical examiner. When I grew up, I wanted to do hospital pathology, but I had a mortgage and a 2-year-old and I needed money. I was offered a spot at the Cook County (Chicago) Medical Examiner’s Office and I accepted. It turned out, that I liked it. It’s very interesting. It’s very varied work and I still haven’t gotten tired of it.
Coming from Montana, and having worked in Seattle and Chicago, what goals do you have for the Whatcom County ME’s Office?
This is going to be the biggest challenge of my career — picking up from the state of disarray that the office was left in and making it better. In previous offices that I had been in, there was an infrastructure in place, there were expectations, things operated as they should. Here, there was none of that. So just in the past couple months, we have put together a pretty good team.
If it becomes too untenable for one person, do you imagine requesting a deputy?
That would be some years down the road. I think it would be more support staff. The actual performance of autopsies is the easy part, or that’s how I think of it. The hard part is all the other stuff that happens like the admin, the paperwork, the phone calls.
There are a lot of phone calls. In Montana, I did not have to call a single family member because the coroners took care of that. Here there are families, and they’re curious and they’re educated and they want to know things. I appreciate that. It makes it challenging, but I appreciate it.
You said that this is going to be the biggest challenge of your career. Why did you take this on?
I was getting bored. Montana was fine, it would have been a great retirement job. But this is something I’ve never done, and I think that I can make a difference.
What kind of support from the county are you getting?
Well the executive’s office is giving us great support. I’ve got great admin beneath me, the investigators that we have — they’re all great hires. We’re going to hopefully hire a couple more. I think all that together, if you want to say that it constitutes a team, it’s the beginning of a good team.
Why did you choose Whatcom County?
It’s different. There are trees and it rains once in a while, which is very nice. My kids are close by. My son went to Western [Washington University], and so it’s good to be close to family.
You deal with death on a nearly daily basis and you’ve been in this line of work since the 1990s. How do you take care of yourself? What do you do when you’re not working?
I guess a lot of it, and maybe it’s not healthy psychologically, but I compartmentalize.
When I’m not working and before I moved, I brewed beer. I built stuff out of wood. I jogged and lifted weights. I cook and feed the office.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
