BY HERBERT ATIENZA
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed retired Navy Vice Admiral Raquel C. Bono, a Filipino American, to lead the state’s health care response team against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
As state director for Washington’s COVID-19 Health System Response Management, Bono will advise the governor, his staff and state agencies on actions needed to address the capacity and strain across the health care system. Her appointment takes effect immediately.
Bono, 63, is the first woman surgeon in the military to hold the rank of vice admiral. She is presently 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.
“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.
Washington is one of most badly hit states by COVID-19, with the first case in the U.S. of the respiratory illness emerging in the state in January. As of March 28, there were 4896 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Washington, and 195 Washington residents have died of the illness, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
“I am honored and delighted to join Gov. 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.
“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 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.
In a 2015 interview with Positively Filipino around the time she was promoted by then-President Barack Obama to Vice Admiral, the Quezon City-born Bono, who comes from a family of doctors, encouraged young Filipinos to reach their dreams.
“All young Filipinos, including women, should believe they can do anything. All they need to do is make a decision. My father taught me that at a young age,” she said. (April 2020)
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