The Sanctuary Coroner's Office and Morgue

A small, but efficient, staff runs the coroner's office including Hunter Caldwell, M.D. (Sanctuary’s Medical Examiner) and Lynn Tersigni, M.D., Ph.D. (staff pathologist and forensic anthropologist) who handle the majority of the cases as well as one full-time tech and one part-time tech. When necessary, a pathologist from one of the hospitals may be called in to consult or agree to be on call in the event that Hunter or Lynn are unavailable.

The Sanctuary Office of the Medical Examiner investigates all deaths of legal concern (e.g. unnatural deaths, in custody deaths, deaths of unidentified persons, no physician in attendance, exhumation, etc.). Autopsies may range from full to limited depending on the situation and the consent release. Generally, the deceased patients are from the immediate area, however it is not unheard of for a patient to be transported from outside of the county for an autopsy.

Some forensic testing is performed on site, however if extra testing is necessary (such as blood cultures for mycology or bacteriology) it is contracted through a local lab for analysis of specimens. Slides may be prepared at the coroner’s office or through the hospital depending on the nature of the sample. In the event that a neuropathology report is needed, a neuropathologist from the hospital will be contacted.

Death certificates are provided through the selected funeral home and certified by the coroner's office before the body is released to the family. Provisional Autopsy Diagnoses are released within 24 hours and a Final Autopsy Diagnosis is issued within 60 days for complex cases and 30 for simple cases. Autopsies do not affect viewing.

The coroner's office works in close partnership with the Sanctuary hospitals for their mutual benefit. In the event that an individual has donated organs for research or transplant, the appropriate individuals will be contacted immediately. Harvesting may or may not be done by an employee of the Office of the Medical Examiner.

The facilities are well maintained. A high standard is expected due to the variety of cases that are processed and the community’s related needs. Among the special equipment available at the coroner's office is a vault for vampire victims in order to reduce risk to employees and others.

This page maintained by: The Web Master