It’s not just a goodbye but a brewing problem with the upcoming departure of the island's Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Jeffrey Nine. His departure has an unique challenge arising. 

As the only forensic pathologist in the region, his absence could complicate the investigation of death cases like homicides. 

Nine said, “The next option is to have forensic pathologists come and cover the homicides cause those are the ones that are in the paper and the ones we need to have a forensic pathologist do those…The closest would be Hawaii.” 

And while Nine said he’s trying to put together a team to include himself to come back and forth to the island to address that need, homicides only account for about 10% of his workload.

“90% of it is death certificates, families who wanna remove remains from the island…Cremation authorizations require the medical examiner; lots of death certificates need to be done by the medical examiner because the person dies at home,” said Nine. 

Taking this into account, Dr. Nine still wanted to provide his services to the community even after moving to the mainland. 

He said, “My hope is to try and offer to the post-mortem commission or the AG’s office or the island–the government my services kind of remotely, to handle these issues so that the families won’t have to wait for death certificates.” 

It’s an offer he’s making in light of the difficult nature of getting another Chief Medical Examiner in his place.

“When you think of the training, the experience, and the specialized knowledge that a medical examiner brings, that $310,000 a year is at the low end of what chief medical examiners get on the mainland. So, you factor in how expensive it is to live in Guam and how expensive it is to relocate, now you’re looking at having a difficult time attracting someone,” said Nine. 

Dr. Nine's last day on the job is on April 29.