Mahoning County coroner searches for forensic pathologist

Mahoning County coroner searches for forensic pathologist

YOUNGSTOWN – The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office has been beating the bushes for three months in search of a forensic pathologist.

“There are not that many of these people out there,” said Dr. David M. Kennedy, county coroner. There are only about 1,500 forensic pathologists in the entire country, and they are in high-demand, high-salaried posts, he added.

The county posted the job locally and advertised it through the journal and web site of the National Association of Medical Examiners since Dr. Robert C. Belding announced in late November that he was leaving at the end of December.

Dr. Belding, who earned $115,569 annually in 2006 and 2007, had been with the county for four years before departing for a higher-paying position in Virginia, Dr. Kennedy said.

Before Dr. Belding arrived, the post had been vacant for more than a year after its previous occupant, Dr. Jesse Giles, left for a higher paying job.

So far, Dr. Kennedy said he has received six inquiries about the vacancy here and interviewed one candidate.

That candidate was ‘‘very interested” in the job, but won’t be available to start work here until this summer, when he completes his fellowship training in forensic pathology, Dr. Kennedy said.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.