DeKalb medical examiner details staffing, turnaround times, new fellowship and overdose trends

Bianca Loveless, director of the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office, told the DeKalb County IRPS Committee that the office is operating under a public'private partnership that helps speed autopsy and toxicology turnaround times and supports specialty staffing.

Loveless said the DeKalb office receives roughly 2,300 reported cases annually and conducts just under 1,000 forensic examinations. Of about 5,400 county deaths each year, roughly half are reported to the medical examiner's office and the office determines whether an exam is required. She said investigators and administrative staff are county employees while autopsy physicians and related medical staff work under contract with Forensic Medicine Associates (FMA) led by Dr. Gowett.

The arrangement, Loveless said, lets DeKalb contract physicians take autopsies for other counties (excluding prosecutable homicide cases), which helps justify larger physician staffing and shortens turnaround times. She said almost 70% of investigative reports are completed within 30 days, 46% of autopsy reports are completed within 30 days, and about 98% of examinations are completed within 72 hours. She noted the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) standard generally aims for 90% of autopsy reports within 90 days but acknowledged national backlogs have led to some leniency.

Loveless described workforce strategies to address a nationwide shortage of forensic pathologists (she cited roughly 500 working forensic pathologists vs. a need of 1,500—2,000). DeKalb is using specialized forensic physician assistants to extend physician capacity and is pursuing additional accreditations (NAME, IACME and ACGME). She said the office achieved ACGME accreditation to host a forensic pathology fellowship and the first fellow will start July 1, 2026, in partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine.

The office also uses a private federal laboratory (National Medical Services) for much of its toxicology testing, which Loveless credited with improving turnaround. She described partnerships with public health and community organizations for data sharing and prevention work'for example, providing data to Claritel to guide Narcan distribution into neighborhoods with higher overdose activity. Loveless said the office expects to start an overdose fatality review process in August and that the office already provides data to the state child fatality review and other public-health efforts.

On toxicology trends, Loveless said DeKalb's 2024 data show about 38% of reportable deaths involved opiates (roughly 33% of deaths directly involving fentanyl) and just under 32% involved cocaine; she said methamphetamine activity is rising slightly. She told commissioners the office can provide more detailed tox breakdowns and will present a tox-focused briefing soon.

Loveless invited commissioners to tour the facility and said Dr. Gowett's FMA contract is scheduled for a renewal cycle in 2026—2027; county staff will return to the board if they seek to renew the contract. She emphasized the office is staffed 24/7, has 12 investigators (including the chief and two deputies), and that the public'private model keeps physician salaries off the county pension system while enabling greater staffing flexibility.

The committee asked questions about the partnership with FMA; Loveless said FMA prioritizes DeKalb cases and that the contract allows FMA to employ additional staff where demand warrants. Commissioners asked about capacity for large events (for example, the 2026 World Cup), and Loveless said the office can absorb short spikes, will limit staff leave during major events and has memorandums of understanding with other regional medical examiner offices for mutual aid.

Loveless closed by reiterating the office's staffing and accreditation goals, the Morehouse fellowship start date, and the planned overdose fatality review process.

DeKalb commissioners and staff said they would follow up with office tours and additional data requests.