Upgrade Sought for Morgue

San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials say the coroner’s office needs nearly $2 million to hire more staff and upgrade the morgue where, just 2 1/2 years ago, a county grand jury investigation found 68 corpses stacked two and three high.

The Sheriff’s Department request, which will be considered by the Board of Supervisors today, would pay for 14 additional staff members, add autopsy workstations and expand the morgue’s refrigerator and freezer.

The $1.97 million would fund the last phase of a capital improvement project by the county. By November of last year, the board already had approved a total of $1.41 million to update the morgue.

“When our residents pass, we have a responsibility to respect their remains,” said Supervisor Josie Gonzales. “I find that the Sheriff’s Department has embraced this responsibility.”

Gonzales and County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer made a surprise visit to the morgue two weeks ago and said that most of the problems identified in the grand jury report had been corrected.

But Uffer and Gonzales agreed that more measures needed to be taken to ensure that the coroner’s office kept up with the county’s growth.

As the population of San Bernardino County continues to boom -- reaching close to 2 million in 2004 -- the number of bodies showing up at the morgue has increased accordingly, but coroner’s office staffing has not kept pace.

In 1986, as many as 21 deputy coroner investigators each handled between 250 and 300 cases per year. There are currently 13 deputy coroner investigators employed by the county. In 2005, investigators each handled an average of 680 cases, said Robin Haynal, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department.

In Los Angeles County, by comparison, 41 investigators complete 12,000 cases annually -- an average of 292 cases each, according to Lt. Fred Corral of the L.A. County coroner’s office.

At today’s Board of Supervisors meeting, the coroner’s office will propose hiring seven deputy coroner investigators, five autopsy assistants and two sheriff’s service specialists.

In addition, the division is asking to hire another part-time medical examiner, whose salary would be covered by the existing budget. The department now employs two full-time and three part-time medical examiners.

The 2002-03 grand jury inquiry reported an “offensive smell” at the morgue. Scanty ventilation, inadequate refrigeration and freezer space, and poorly organized items belonging to the deceased were also mentioned in the report.

The coroner’s office was merged with the Sheriff’s Department in January 2005. The consolidation eliminated the county coroner as an elected position.

Since the merger, conditions have improved dramatically, Uffer said.

“It had none of the issues we saw before,” Uffer said Monday. “It didn’t smell, it was clean, I didn’t see any bodies in public or private view. They’ve gone through great lengths to improve the area.”

Despite improvements, Uffer said, the facility still needed to be expanded. “They have a significant need for more storage for bodies,” he said.

The capacity of the main coroner’s facility when built in the late 1980s was 64 bodies. The average number now is 80, reaching as many as 100 on a holiday weekend.