Coroner continues seeking expert

March 10, 2008 at 12:50a.m.

The demand for forensic pathologists is great; the supply is limited.

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.

The county’s job posting says the starting date is ‘‘as soon as a qualified applicant is found.” The position is full-time with benefits and the successful applicant will also have the title of “deputy coroner.”

The forensic pathologist will be expected to perform at least 150 autopsies a year, write reports, rule on the cause and manner of death, issue death certificates and testify before the grand jury or in court about autopsy findings as needed.

Dr. Kennedy said he hopes he can find a forensic pathologist to work here for about $120,000 a year. “I don’t think we’ll have to pay much more. We’ll just have to find the person who appreciates the position,” Dr. Kennedy said.

In the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office in Dayton, each of seven forensic pathologists earns between $140,000 and $180,000 a year, but each performs about 250 autopsies annually, Dr. Kennedy observed.

Since December, the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office has sent about 35 bodies to the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office in Cleveland for autopsies, including those of the six people who died in the Jan. 23 East Side arson, Dr. Kennedy said.

It costs about $1,200 per body, plus about $135 for transportation to send the bodies to Cleveland, Dr. Kennedy said. If those costs were to be multiplied by 150 cases, the total comes to $200,250 annually.

By having its own forensic pathologist here, the county can save between $100 and $200 per case, Dr.Kennedy said. If the salary can be kept at about $120,000 a year, it would be cost-effective to do those autopsies here, he added.

The difference between the $120,000 and $200,250 figures is explained in part by the cost of health, retirement and other employee benefits for the local forensic pathologist and in part by additional costs for local laboratory tests and X-rays.

The $1,200 paid for each autopsy in Cleveland is an all-inclusive figure, but the cost of local lab tests and X-rays here is variable, he explained.

Local pathologists based at St. Elizabeth Health Center and at Forum Health Northside Medical Center, who are general pathologists, perform about 100 autopsies a year in cases not likely to end up in court, Dr. Kennedy noted.

However, he said the cases which are likely to go to court are autopsied by the forensic pathologists in Cleveland.

“I can’t complain at all about them [the Cleveland forensic pathologists], but it’s just nice to have it done locally,” Dr. Kennedy said of the autopsy work.

The advantages of local autopsies are summed up in ‘‘money, time and convenience,” Dr. Kennedy said.

Handling cases locally makes it easier for local law enforcement personnel to attend autopsies, reduces transportation costs for bodies for the county and for funeral homes and bereaved families, and allows faster release of bodies to funeral homes, he explained.

The county pays to transport bodies to Cleveland for autopsies, but funeral homes, and, ultimately families, bear the cost of the return trip, he noted.