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City officials outline staffing, accreditation and backlog fixes at OCME hearing
Summary
City Administrator Naomi Kelly and OCME staff told the Government Audit and Oversight Committee on Oct. 3, 2019 that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is recruiting a chief, has 36 FTEs and is working to renew accreditation and reduce toxicology backlogs.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee heard an annual report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) on Oct. 3, 2019. City Administrator Naomi Kelly and Deputy City Administrator Ken Bukowski presented the office’s functions, recent challenges and plans to restore accreditation and reduce backlogs.
Naomi Kelly described OCME as the city unit that "investigate[s] sudden unexpected and violent deaths," performs toxicology testing, and provides data for community‑health tracking. She said the office operates with a roughly $11,000,000 annual budget and 36 full‑time equivalent positions.
Officials told supervisors they have seen a spike in death investigations and toxicology cases in fiscal year 2018–19 driven in part by deaths related to fentanyl and methamphetamine and increased testing. Bukowski said overdoses typically fall under accidents and that case totals are preliminary while staff analyze the increase.
Officials acknowledged a lapse in voluntary National Association of Medical Examiners accreditation during OCME’s relocation and said they are working to renew accreditation, validate laboratory instruments, implement a new laboratory information management system and add more information for the public on the website. OCME listed recruitment of a chief medical examiner and renewal of accreditation among top goals for fiscal year 2020.
On staffing and backlog, Bukowski said the medical division and investigative division are filled but the chief position and two toxicology positions were vacant at the time of the hearing; one administrative hire was in background. He said the office has reduced toxicology‑testing turnaround times and that average toxicology testing was about 71 days in the most recent quarters, moving toward the department goal of issuing final reports within 90 days.
Supervisors and OCME staff discussed communications with grieving families and the value of issuing a "pending" determination so families have timely information while toxicology testing continues. The committee filed the hearing without objection.
