Washington appoints top Navy surgeon as it's coronavirus czar

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Vice Admiral Raquel C. Bono (Ret.)  was named the State of Washington's COVID-19 czar.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Monday named retired Navy Vice Admiral Raquel C. Bono to head up the state's fight against COVID-19.

The newly appointed state director for COVID-19 Health System Response Management Washington is getting one of the top surgeons in the Navy with a long career in the medical field. She takes on the task as the governor announced a shelter-in-place mandate on Monday (March 23).

Bono is currently a senior fellow with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. As the former chief executive officer and director for the Defense Health Agency, Bono led a joint, integrated support agency that enabled all branches of the U.S. military medical services to provide health care services to those engaged in combat.

She is the first woman surgeon in the military to hold the rank of vice admiral.

“Vice Admiral Bono will help bolster our existing coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic across our state’s health care system," Inslee said. "She brings an impressive medical background, a long and distinguished military career and a deep understanding of complex medical delivery systems. Her expertise will help us ensure that we can meet the needs of Washingtonians who are sick, or will become ill from COVID-19."

The appointment is effective immediately.

Bono and her brother, now retired Rear Admiral Anatolio B. Cruz III, made history in the US Navy earlier when they became the first and only siblings of Filipino descent to hold flag-officer ranks simultaneously, according to the DHA website.

Bono’s grandfather was a Filipino obstetrician who served in the US Army as a colonel during World War II. Two decades after the war, Bono’s parents migrated to the US and settled in Minnesota, where her father completed his surgical residency and became part of the Navy Reserve, retiring as a captain.

Her brother, retired Rear Admiral Cruz III, served as deputy commander of the US Naval Forces Southern Command and deputy commander, US Fourth Fleet.

"Service to others; service to country. It was ingrained in us by our father and mother in gratitude to their adopted country, the United States,” Bono was quoted as saying in the article.

In her role for Washington state, Bono will advise the Inslee, his staff and state agencies on actions needed to address the capacity and strain across the health care system. She will work closely with acute care facilities, long-term care facilities, clinics, tribal facilities, and the federal government to assess and address the greatest needs. Her role will include work to ensure medical staffing needs are met, as well as develop standard protocols across facilities and coordinate with the state Emergency Operations Center to operationalize statewide efforts.

“I am honored and delighted to join Governor Inslee and the Washington state health care community in their collective leadership and expertise to develop a model of care for all Washingtonians and others during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Bono said.

Washington has been hard hit by the coronavirus and recorded the first death in the US  and an outbreak among residents of a nursing home in Kirkland.

As of Monday, the total number of cases in the stateis 2,221,  with 110 deaths from COVID-19, according to the Washington Department of Health.

“We are very pleased to have the expertise and leadership of Vice Admiral Bono in our coordinated efforts between the public health and health care system as we continue to respond to this unprecedented public health crisis,” Secretary of Health John Wiesman said. “Her leadership will enhance our response on behalf of all Washingtonians.”

Bono obtained her medical degree from Texas Tech University and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She completed a surgical internship and a general surgery residency at Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, and a trauma and critical care fellowship at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine in Norfolk.

Bono served in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as head of casualty receiving for a fleet hospital in Saudi Arabia. Upon returning, she worked as a surgeon at Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth and as a surgical intensivist and attending surgeon at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

Her long medical career includes service as: director of Restorative Care and director of Medical-Surgery Services at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland; career planning officer for the chief of the Medical Corps; executive assistant to the 35th Navy Surgeon General; commanding officer at Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida; and chief of staff and deputy director of Tricare Management Activity of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Health Affairs.

Bono’s leadership roles include service as deputy director for Medical Resources, chief of Naval Operations, and as command surgeon for the U.S. Pacific Command at Camp Smith in Hawaii.

She has also served as: acting commander for the Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical; director of the National Capital Region Medical Directorate of the Defense Health Agency; the 11th Chief, Navy Medical Corps; and director of the Defense Health Agency.

Bono is a diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and also has an Executive MBA from the Carson College of Business at Washington State University.

Her personal decorations include three Defense Superior Service Medals, four Legion of Merit Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals and two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals.

Washington seeks repeal of anti-affirmative action law

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Civil rights leaders march in support of 1-1000 which would bring affirmative action back to Washington.

The State of Washington will get a chance to repeal an anti-affirmative action initiative passed by voters 20 years ago.

Washington's Secretary of State Kim Wyman certified Wednesday (Feb. 13) I-1000, an initiative designed to enhance equity, diversity and inclusion in public contracting, hiring and education. The 1998 initiative, I-200, prohibited the state government from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any person or group based on factors such as race or gender.

“Our goal is to enable the people to speak once again, 20 years later, now with greater knowledge of what affirmative action is, and that is isn't preferential treatment. And also to see the effects of the old law,” said former representative Jesse Wineberry, one of the backers of I-1000.

I-1000 would apply to public schools, universities as well as state, county, and local government jobs. Wineberry argues that women and minorities have lost $3.5 billion in potential state government contract work over the past 20 years, citing estimates given by the Office of Women and Minority Business Enterprises.

The certification will allow the initiative to be introduced in the state legislature, which could pass it as is or tweak it to go on the ballot before it to the voters. 

A public hearing on I-1000 is tentatively set for Feb. 22 in Olympia, arguments for and against the initiative will be aired.

I-1000 would allow affirmative action without the use of quotas in the state of Washington. This means that characteristics such as color, race and sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status could be used among the factors when considering a person for school, employment or government contracts. I-1000 would, however, ban preferential treatment.

I-200 used misleading language, say proponents of the new initiative. The wording at the time confused voters as its argument fell under “civil rights” yet the law was, according to opponents of I-200, discriminatory.

Opponents of I-200 argue that it has hurt minority communities, citing statistics ranging from a significant decline in college acceptance rates for First Nations people, to a decrease in government contracts with minorities from 13 percent in 1998 to just 3 percent today.

I-1000 would also create a Governor’s commission on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and would be required to issue an annual report on the progress of state agencies in achieving the measure’s goal of “guaranteeing every resident of Washington state equal opportunity and access to public education and employment.”

Leading the opposition to the new initiative is a group called Washington Asians for Equality. "If I-1000 is passed by the Legislature against people's will, the number of Asian-American students at UW (University of Washington) will definitely tank below current level," said a recent article on the group's website. "Asian-American families will likely be the ones most hurt."
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