I was working with life after death. Children died from diseases like cancer, accidents, and abuse. In medicine, one deal with genetic diseases, cancer, accidents, etc. The coroner only deals with deaths that are homicides, suicides, overdoses, and accidents at work or in a car. There is a huge learning curve working with staff daily and not allowing it to impact you. It was challenging working with death daily and having the strength to keep it from impacting me internally. Gerri: What are the occupations of the coroner’s staff? What do they do? Dr. Ortiz: The pathologists do autopsies. The coroner certifies the death by agreeing or disagreeing with the pathology. Pathologists are trained for this. A pathologist is a medical professional, usually a doctor, who examines and analyzes tissues to identify changes and anything unusual in the body. As a medical doctor, I was able to certify death on a medical basis. Gerri: What other challenges did you face? Dr. Ortiz: My medical background challenged me to ask myself questions. How could I continue to be a coroner and practice prevention? How could I bring prevention to the office? We were dealing with so many overdoses. I worked to build collaboration with different departments to discuss the addiction crisis. I wanted to know how we could prevent the deaths from occurring. I worked with suicide groups in the county and in the state. It was my desire to bring people to the table to discuss and find ways to prevent these events from continuing to occur. Gerri: What were some things that you were working to find solutions for before leaving the coroner’s office? Dr. Ortiz: Shortly before I left the coroner’s office, homicides were becoming a major crisis. I was looking for community-based solutions to resolve them. Gerri: Does the coroner’s office certify unnatural deaths? Dr. Ortiz: Yes, they do. Normal deaths like cancer, no. Gerri: McQuetta Williams has given us her definition of a “Fierce Lioness:” Energetic and strong, lions respect strength in others and have no time for subtlety. An extremely independent, ambitious, driven woman who is fierce, backs up her shit, and takes care of her own, friends and family. You had to have some fierceness about yourself to be successful as the coroner. How did you demonstrate fierceness and be professional at the same time? Dr. Ortiz: I encountered a need to be neutral to other parties. Information comes from other sources. Working with law enforcement was challenging. When I would push back, they would go to the media. They were not always happy with me. I remained respectful to everyone while still doing the mission of the coroner’s office. It took diplomacy and tact. We helped others to understand that we were going to administer and perform the mission of the coroner’s office. Gerri: Were there operational obstacles that limited your ability to carry out the duties of the office? Dr. Ortiz: I discovered that the coroner’s office was not budgeted the same as other county offices. Whenever I pushed for a higher budget, I received negative feedback through the media. I continued to explain the jobs of the professional staff in the coroner’s office, their daily tasks, and the need for higher salaries. Although the coroner’s staff members were professional medical personnel, the coroner’s office budget was one-third of some of the other budgets in the county. I kept pushing for higher salaries for my staff because suicides and overdoses were very high. There was a need for a higher budget. We finally got most of what we asked for, but by then, the job had begun to impact my health. I decided it was time to make a change for the improvement of my health. Gerri: What would you like to share? Dr. Ortiz: I wish to recognize McQuetta Williams for all the work that she has done all these years. I support her. It means a great deal to me and to those to whom she has helped. Gerri R. Collier Gerri is a member of the Professional Women’s Group of Dress for Success Columbus. She has earned degrees in Accounting, Business Management, Human Resource Management and Organizational Leadership, and Metaphysics. ENVISIONPROVENSUCCESS.COM | 35
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