Volusia County's interim medical examiner says morgue is no longer overcrowded

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — In a 15-page presentation delivered before the Volusia County Council on Tuesday, interim medical examiner Dr. Jon Thogmartin said workers are caught up on a 200-case backlog.

Thogmartin joined the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office in June, weeks after the chief medical examiner outlined the case backlog, a lack of staffing and poor conditions in a scathing resignation letter.

Volusia County's county manager, Jim Dinneen, resigned weeks after Thogmartin took over.

"Just a few simple changes resulted in the issues being resolved," Thogmartin said. "The backlog is gone. The overloaded body cooler is taken care of."

He said most of the issues have been rectified by keeping the office open on the weekends, changing employee schedules and using dictation devices.

"They really had a lot of bodies," Thogmartin said. "If I have eight autopsies on a particular day by random chance, all of those autopsies will be completed that day no matter how long it takes."

Finding the county's next medical examiner won't be easy, because there are 450 working forensic pathologists in the country, fewer than 100 of whom are qualified to run the office well, he said.

"Most of the time when you have a Florida medical examiner (vacancy) advertised, you're lucky to get five people (to apply for it)," Thogmartin said. "There's just not many M.E.s."

The county is in the process of building a new medical examiner's facility, but Thogmartin said the current facility still needs to be upgraded.

"The main problem with the medical examiner (facility) is although the body cooler is no longer overloaded, it is a little small," he said. "It is something we have to pay daily attention to."

Thogmartin said he recommends doubling the size of the morgue and the cooler to prevent future issues with capacity.

Seminole County could soon end its 20-year partnership with the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office when it comes to autopsies.

Last month, Seminole County commissioners agreed to the initial terms of a contract with Medicus Forensics P.A., which serves five counties, including Lake, Marion and Sumter.

Commissioners are scheduled to meet Wednesday to finalize the details of the agreement.

Cox Media Group