It’s been nearly four years since Honolulu last had a chief medical examiner, but now the wait is over.

On Monday, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced that he has selected Dr. Christopher B. Happy to take over as the city’s top medical examiner.

Happy is currently a forensic pathologist in Northern California and he has been an assistant medical examiner in San Francisco.

The chief medical examiner position has been vacant since Nov. 1, 2009 when Dr. Kanthi De Alwis retired. The city has struggled to fill the position ever since.

Most recently the city proposed increasing the salary for the chief medical examiner from $200,000 to $250,000 to help with recruitment.

Happy must get a Hawaii medical license before he can start working for the city.

—Nick Grube