BALTIMORE — A federal team helped clear a backlog of between 200 and 300 cases that had piled up in the overwhelmed Maryland medical examiners’ office, state and federal officials confirmed Friday.
The state office located in Baltimore, officially called the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, once a national model, has been suffering in recent years from staff shortages and increasing delays that has left families waiting to bury loved ones and potentially putting criminal cases at risk, in addition to jeopardizing its national accreditation.
Delegate Kirill Reznik said he was told during a call to the office that the case backlog had been addressed by a team sent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that was there this week. The Montgomery County Democrat has been following the staff shortages closely and introduced legislation to require the examiners’ office to staff appropriately.
“We called today and were told they cleared the backlog,” he said. “It probably doesn’t solve the problem of understaffing. But I imagine it’ll take a while to build back up to that level if they don’t staff up and hopefully this gives them the opportunity to staff up. It’s great news.”
Officials from the Maryland Department of Health didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A FEMA spokesman confirmed federal personnel were sent to the Maryland office but provided no details.
The Maryland medical examiners’ office had requested assistance last month from the federal government’s Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams.
FEMA, which takes such requests for federal assistance from states and coordinates support, referred calls to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The medical examiners’ office is charged with investigating suspicious and unattended deaths, including homicides and drug overdoses. Those deaths have spiked in recent years and only grew during the coronavirus pandemic.
The office has been overseen by an acting chief since last month. Dr. Victor W. Weedn resigned after a tumultuous year on the job during which the pace of staff departures quickened.
The National Association of Medical Examiners sets a standard of 250 autopsies a year per examiners, but Maryland examiners typically exceed that level. State records show some examiners were performing 390 autopsies a year in the most recent fiscal year and at times even more.
For years, the office on West Baltimore Street in the University of Maryland BioPark had been given provisional accreditation. But full accreditation was restored during the pandemic as the association loosened the threshold. The accreditation is seen as important to instill trust in the findings.
The examiners official website lists a dozen examiners in addition to the acting chief and a deputy, down from 20 listed in state documents in December. There may be even fewer full-time examiners now, though the state has approved multiple new positions and approved bonuses and pay raises.
Hiring qualified pathologists has been a national problem because there aren’t enough to go around.
The office has been trying to fill the gap by rehiring retired examiners, which may have contributed to the exodus as those eligible left and returned to lighter work loads. They could earn $850 a case and also collect their pensions while avoiding some of the most complex cases.
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