Name: Winifred Odo
Age: 55
Education: Roosevelt High School, University of Hawaii
Pastime: Reading mysteries

She went through some rocky times as administrator of the huge, complex and often controversial Med-QUEST Division of the state Department of Human Services.

But tears fill her eyes when she talks about her division colleagues, health-care providers and insurers and how they collaborated to design medical plans for low-income and elderly residents.

"The best part of this job has been the people," she said.

Those who worked with Odo would say she was the best part of the job. She received an award last week from the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

"Winnie is terrific," state Health Department Deputy Director Bert Kobayashi said, with state Rep. Dennis Arakaki agreeing. Gene Tiwanak, St. Francis Healthcare Foundation president, asked her, "What are we going to do without you?"

Odo joined the old Department of Social Services and Housing out of college in 1966 and retired Oct. 15. She was approached by Acordia Northwest, a Seattle-based insurance brokerage firm, to use her health-care expertise to develop programs and plans for other states.

She said she "came full circle" in her state career. Her first task was to help develop the Medicaid program. Then she did child welfare and social work for many years before returning to the Medicaid program in 1980. Appointed administrator in 1990, she guided the division through tumultuous changes with soaring medical needs, costs and budget deficits.

Odo and her staff worked with providers, insurers and advocates to establish the QUEST managed care program.

The mission to balance the budget knowing it would adversely affect some people involved "really difficult decisions," Odo said. She recalls "tense moments" at the Legislature, although she says it was "a positive experience."

She's happy that QUEST is running smoothly after generating anger and "hitting a lot of potholes." She credits providers who "put their fears aside to make it work. The first year at the Legislature I think every doc in town was there to say why it shouldn't happen."

Odo says she wishes she could have eliminated the deficit, but "it would require Draconian cuts. I'm not at all sure anyone is now willing to do that. I wasn't."

Odo and her "incredibly patient" husband, Clarence, have three children: Catherine, 30, at the University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz.; Brian, 26, an artist in the Northwest, and Donovan, 18, a University of Arizona sophomore.

They're happy about her new job after seven-day weeks, 12-hour days and some bad times in her state position, she said.

While admitting her new venture is frightening, she says she's "going to have some fun xxx trying new things."