MAHONING COUNTY Coroner still needs forensic pathologist

The coroner says he might have to 'up the ante.'
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- After Jan. 1, Mahoning County bodies will likely be taken to Akron or Columbus to be autopsied.
"There's nothing formal yet, but unless the Cuyahoga County coroner is able to hire more people -- and that doesn't seem likely -- we won't be able to send them to Cleveland anymore," said Mahoning County Coroner David M. Kennedy. "I have inquiries out to Akron and Columbus to do our autopsies."
Bodies have been transported to Cleveland since June, when Dr. Jesse C. Giles, deputy coroner and forensic pathologist, accepted a similar job in Jacksonville, Fla. Giles performed nearly all the county's autopsies and provided courtroom testimony in murder cases because of his expertise.
With Giles gone, Cuyahoga was chosen to fill the gap because it offered the best price, about $1,040 per autopsy. The amount includes trial testimony if needed, Kennedy said.
The coroner said he's had "no luck" since June with hiring a forensic pathologist.
"People are ignoring it," Kennedy said of the search he had expected to conclude by late summer. The position pays $110,000.
Big job
Mahoning County generally needs 150 autopsies to be performed each year. Doctors at local hospitals reject the idea of doing autopsies because the position requires courtroom testimony.
Cuyahoga, Kennedy said, pays its pathologists $125,000 and is having a difficult time filling openings.
"It's going to get worse before it gets better," the coroner said. "We might have to up the ante."
Kennedy said he wants to talk to county commissioners about the possibility of offering $125,000 for the job.
It's so much better, he said, to have a pathologist on staff. Autopsy results are timely, which makes it easier on families and better for detectives investigating homicides.
Shortage is widespread
Kennedy believes there's a problem nationwide in filling forensic pathologist openings. It's more noticeable here because Mahoning County only employs one so there's no one to pick up the slack when an opening occurs, he said.
Lee Parrott, Hamilton County coroner, president of the Ohio State Coroners Association, has confirmed a shortage of forensic pathologists nationwide.
"The ones who are out there generally tend to cluster in the larger cities" because the pay is higher, Parrott has said.
meade@vindy.com