Shorstein leads medical examiner search

News

by Mike Sharkey

Staff Writer

State Attorney Harry Shorstein has plenty on his plate. He oversees an office with 83 attorneys and dozens of support staff members. In addition to handling the high profile cases himself, he often assists with other cases.

Lately, he’s had another task: that of helping select a successor to Dr. Bonifacio Floro, the chief medical examiner in Duval County, who retired last June after 25 years of service and more than 15,000 autopsies. Shorstein is chairman of the local medical examiner’s commission.The job falls into Shorstein’s lap basically because of who he is.

“I’m chairman because I’m the state attorney,” said Shorstein, who oversees the 4th Judicial District of Florida. “It’s in the statutes or part of a policy. When a vacancy occurs, I’m the chairman.”

The rest of the local commission includes law enforcement personnel, attorneys and doctors.

“I put logical users on the commission, people who come in contact with the medical examiner,” said Shorstein, naming people like Sheriff Nat Glover, General Counsel Rick Mullaney and Public Defender Lou Frost. “Rick Mullaney is very important because the medical examiner is primarily funded through the City of Jacksonville.”

Others on the local commission include Clay County Sheriff Scott Lancaster, Nassau County Sheriff Ray Geiger, Floro, Duval County Health Administrator Dr. Jeffrey Goldhagen and Dr. Steve Nelson, the chairman of the State Board of Medical Examiners.

Shortly after Dr. Floro announced his retirement last summer, the commission met and named an interim medical examiner. They chose Dr. Margarita Arruza, who has been with the Duval County Medical Examiner’s office for the better part of the past decade. Her name also been submitted to the state board of medical examiners for consideration. If approved, Arruza will only need Gov. Jeb Bush’s OK to become the next chief medical examiner for the 4th Judicial District.

“I also have the authority, by state statute, to appoint an interim, which is what I did,” said Shorstein.

When Shorstein appointed Floro the interim chief medical examiner, the situation was a little different. Dr. Peter Lipkovic has just retired and Shorstein knew Floro was going to retire himself in a year or so. Thus, the interim label was taken of Floro’s name and was given the job until he retired.

In Arruza, Shorstein is getting someone familiar with the job and staff at the medical examiner’s office.

“She’s been there 10 years,” said Shorstein. “I made her the acting chief medical examiner six, seven, eight months ago; whenever I got Dr. Floro’s actual resignation.”

Although Floro didn’t go through the entire hiring process, and it looks like Arruza won’t either, that doesn’t mean Shorstein and the rest of the commission didn’t look outside of Jacksonville for a candidate.

“We went through the whole process,” said Shorstein. “We advertised the vacancy and got three applicants. One was a pretty prominent professor from West Virginia University. We brought her down for interviews twice and almost gave it to her.”

Shorstein expects both the state board and Gov. Bush to approve Arruza.

“I’m fairly confident they’ll accept our recommendation,” he said. “I don’t know the answer to the question, what if they don’t accept our recommendation. It has never happened, to my knowledge.”

Shorstein said he welcomes the opportunity to not only be in on the selection process, but also enjoys chairing the local commission. The fact that a qualified candidate was already in the office was a perk many judicial districts in the country don’t get.

“It’s not difficult because if I wasn’t chairman because of a state statute, I’d want to be involved,” said Shorstein. “It’s very difficult to find a qualified medical examiner. It’s a very, very difficult job. In Jacksonville, they are very overworked and understaffed.”

Shorstein pointed to a conversation he had with Nelson during the search process regarding the Jacksonville Medical Examiner’s office and its workload the last several years.

“It’s an issue that came out in the search commission meetings,” said Shorstein. “Dr. Nelson pointed out that we have functioned for ages with three medical examiners — Dr. Lipkovic, Dr. Floro and Dr. Arruza — doing autopsies. He said, ‘I don’t know you do it with just three and at this time you only have two. You are, because of the number you do a year, entitled to four.’”

Each year approximately 400 autopsies are done in Jacksonville, Nassau and Clay, a figure that is well above the recommended 250 for an office with three medical examiners. That shortfall reflects on several areas and their ability to function adequately and efficiently.

Money, too, plays a role in the search for a new medical examiner. Like the state attorney’s or public defender’s office, serving the public comes with emotional rather than financial rewards. And, like their legal counterparts, the workload is greater than in private practice and never ending.

“Right now, they [the medical examiner’s office] are working very, very hard,” said Shorstein. “Even deputy medical examiners are hard to find. Whether they are a deputy or a chief, there is more money to be made in private practice.

“I don’t know how they are doing it. We’re very fortunate. I hear from DAs [district attorneys] all over the country that they are short medical examiners.”