Thursday, August 31, 2006

Coroner Staffing Shortage Quelled (SB Sun 082806) County Budget Allows for Additional Personnel

Coroner Staffing Shortage Quelled
County budget allows for additional personnel
By George Watson, SB Sun Staff Writer 082806

San Bernardino County's new budget should show residents that government leaders care for them not only when they are alive - but also after they die, said Supervisor Josie Gonzales.

Six months ago, Gonzales feared people couldn't be sure of that.

The Coroner's Office came under fire in February after a deputy coroner, along with the former coroner, Brian McCormick, warned that the department could be missing potential homicides because of staffing shortages.

Gonzales was not pleased. The 5th District supervisor said the county had to be "beyond reproach" because it was responsible for dealing professionally with the delicate issue of death.

By adding 14 positions to the Coroner's Office in the 2006-07 budget, which also has a provision for seven new investigators, the fear is passing that cases that are potential homicides will be overlooked, she said.

"One of my frequent questions is, we know where we have been, and we know where we are, but are we sure we are budgeting where we need to be?" Gonzales said.

The answer, she said, is now a firm yes.

County officials agree.

Mark Uffer, county administrative officer, said coroner officials made a great case as to why they needed the additional personnel.

"We've given them the resources to do the job," Uffer said. "They've already been doing an excellent job since the consolidation into the Sheriff's Department. This will only let them do it better."

Now that the supervisors have given the Coroner's Office the ability to add staff, the responsibility now falls on leaders in that agency to expand. And county leaders realize changes will take time.

"The qualifications to fill the jobs are highly skilled, specialized positions, and you won't find them in the old run of the mill," Gonzales said. "It's a long-term project, where we need to find the right people with the right qualifications."

As part of the new budget, the county will lease a morgue in the High Desert.

In February, claims by Deputy Coroner Randy Emon and McCormick set off a flurry of activity within the office, which had been taken over by the county Sheriff's Department the previous year. Emon lost his role as the agency's spokesman, and Gonzales and Uffer toured the morgue.

In the aftermath, Gonzales promised to make staffing improvements a budgetary priority. She was concerned about the ability of the Coroner's Office to fulfill its duties in a humane way.

Some of those concerns dated back to 2004, when visiting county supervisors discovered bodies stacked atop one another. At the time, the morgue could hold 85 bodies, but there were 125 stored there.

Some county officials blamed McCormick for the staffing shortages, saying he did not let them know the extent of the problem.

But in the 2000-01 fiscal year, McCormick requested two new positions. A year later, he asked for 1.5. Over the next two years, he asked for 6.5 positions.

Each request was denied. Then in 2004-05, McCormick requested 8.5 positions, the board approved 3.5.

The positions were much needed.

Since 1980, the county population has nearly doubled to more than 1.7 million. But the Coroner's Office had more investigators two decades ago than it did earlier this year.

The soaring population meant more people were not only coming here, it also meant more people were dying here. That, coupled with fewer investigators, meant coroner's investigators handled between 600 and 900 cases each year.

Such numbers are far from ideal.

The National Association of Medical Examiners recommends investigators handle only about 400 cases per year. Experts say to burden investigators more could lead to mistakes - including missing homicides - because investigators simply don't have enough time to dig into each case, association officials say.

For example, Riverside County has 24 roster spots for investigators, who work on an average of 450 cases a year. Surrounding counties also have more investigators, thereby reducing the total number of cases per investigator, allowing them to give greater attention to each case.

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