UPDATE: January 7 at 6:20 p.m.
The Kootenai County Coroner’s Office is preparing to adapt after receiving notice that their contract with Spokane’s Medical Examiner will be terminated in the new year.
In response, the coroner’s office is working on a plan to perform autopsies in a space currently under renovation.
The Kootenai County Coroner’s Office and Spokane’s Medical Examiner have agreed to a new short-term agreement that will provide autopsy services through the end of the month. Following this, they plan to contract with a national medical examiner company to bridge the gap.
Dr. Duke Johnson, the Kootenai County Coroner, addressed the situation.
“Though this is a little bit of a surprise and it’s received a lot of public attention, that we’ve already been moving in this passway, all this really does is just accelerate what we’ve been planning on anyway,” said Dr. Johnson.
The new contract with the national medical examiner company will incur greater costs than the current one. However, it will be funded through interest generated by the county, ensuring that there will be no raised taxes for the citizens of Kootenai County.
SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. – The Spokane County Medical Examiner (ME) has ended its contract with the Kootenai County Coroner, leaving Kootenai County in a bind for conducting autopsies.
Dr. Duke Johnson, Kootenai County Coroner, expressed surprise at the news, noting that the Spokane ME’s Office will no longer perform autopsies for them, at least for now. This decision affects the annual 70 autopsies typically conducted for Kootenai County.
Kootenai County Commissioner Leslie Duncan stated that Spokane has reduced the number of autopsies over the past few years. The contract previously required $140,000 annually from Kootenai County taxpayers.
In response, the commissioners have approved emergency funding to set up a temporary lab in the coroner’s office. Dr. Johnson attributed the contract’s end to concerns raised by the Spokane ME about an Kootenai County Coroner employee working with a “disgruntled” former Spokane County ME employee, a claim he denies.
“There was some communications going back and forth from the Spokane medical examiner to the current coroner and that had a role to play in it,” Commissioner Duncan stated.
Duncan did not provide further details on the communications. NonStop Local has reached out to the Spokane County ME but has not yet received a response.
Meanwhile, Kootenai County is constructing a permanent lab for autopsies, with the project costing over a million dollars.
ORIGINAL COVERAGE: January 3 at 6:30 p.m.
