Pierce County names new medical examiner. Hiring comes after months of disruption in the office
Pierce County announced Friday it has hired a new medical examiner, following 11 months of disruption in the office.
Dr. Mark Fajardo, 55, is currently the chief forensic pathologist for the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner in California. Fajardo is expected to take over Pierce County’s Medical Examiner’s Office in the near future, pending the County Council’s confirmation. An exact date has not been set.
Fajardo has practiced forensic pathology for 20 years. Prior to his position at Riverside County, he spent three years as the chief medical examiner for Los Angeles County.
Fajardo, an L.A. native, told media outlets in 2016 he left the Los Angeles chief medical examiner position because the department was understaffed, causing “a huge backlog.”
“I look forward to the challenge of providing timely, accurate death investigation that serves the public with compassion and respect,” Fajardo said in a statement released by Pierce County.
Fajardo is board certified by the American Board of Pathology, earned his M.D. from the University of California Davis Medical School and is a fellow of the National Association of Medical Examiners, said Pierce County director of communications Libby Catalinich.
His starting salary will be about $325,000, $65,000 more than the current medical examiner Thomas Clark.
Clark announced his retirement in September. Clark, who has been in the position for almost a decade, leaves the department amidst claims of mismanaged death investigations.
The associate medical examiner, Megan Quinn, filed a whistleblower complaint earlier this year. She was placed on administrative leave four weeks later.
The county and state Department of Health opened an investigation. A report from a 2016 complaint by a different employee on inappropriate remarks made by Clark stated that “evidence overwhelmingly supports the allegation that Dr. Clark’s actions in the workplace are perceived as arrogantly vindictive, and in some cases deliberately cruel.”
The investigations will continue after Clark’s departure.
Clark will stay on as a consultant and remain on-call until Dec. 2020, Catalinich said. Fajardo is expected to move to Pierce County in early next year.
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 3:27 PM.
