Viking Hires Retired Vice Admiral as Chief Health Officer

Viking has hired a retired Navy vice admiral and a surgeon as its Chief Health Officer to help the company restart cruise operations.

Raquel C. Bono, M.D., most recently led Washington State’s medical and healthcare systems’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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A board-certified trauma surgeon and retired Vice Admiral of the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, Dr. Bono partnered with Viking earlier this year to help develop new protocol enhancements; as Chief Health Officer, Dr. Bono will be instrumental in Viking’s restart of operations, with a focus on public health.

“Dr. Bono brings valuable perspective informed by an extraordinary career that has included decorated military service, trauma surgery and health care administration,” said Viking Chairman Torstein Hagen. “Additionally, her work as the head of Washington State’s COVID-19 health care response team makes her uniquely qualified to be our Chief Health Officer as we finalize plans for operating cruises safely.”

Viking recently became the first cruise line to complete the installation of a full-scale polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing laboratory at sea. The laboratory on board Viking Star has enough capacity for up to daily testing of every crew member and guest, which the company said provides flexibility to respond to COVID-19 prevalence levels around the world.

In the coming months, Viking will complete the installation of PCR laboratories on the remainder of its ocean ships – and will also have a strong network of shoreside laboratories for its river ships.