Fate of S.J. County coroner position still unclear

STOCKTON — Despite growing pressure to decide the future of San Joaquin County’s troubled coroner’s office, county leaders on Tuesday said they will wait for the results of an upcoming two-month analysis by an outside expert.

The $45,000 agreement with the out-ofstate expert had not been signed as of Tuesday morning, more than two months after forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu announced his resignation citing alleged interference in his work by SheriffCoroner Steve Moore.

The county’s other staff pathologist, Dr. Susan Parson, announced her own resignation even earlier, on Nov. 27. Private contractors now are performing autopsies.

In a letter earlier this week, the San Joaquin Medical Society told San Joaquin Supervisors that the organization is “disappointed at the lack of urgency” in addressing the controversy. And Supervisor Tom Patti at Tuesday’s board meeting said he was “troubled” that the issue would not be resolved until April, given the cost to the county of paying private contractors to perform autopsies, and the fact that Omalu and Parson have indicated they might be willing to return if the functions of sheriff and coroner are separated and an independent medical examiner’s office is established.

“There could be a risk of us losing two pathologists that are currently willing to stay if there was a change,” Patti said. “We might be heading down a very challenging path the longer this goes on.”

A majority of board members, however, indicated their desire to wait for the report from the outside expert.

“I think we all would like to see this completed sooner rather than later, but this is a major undertaking,” Supervisor Chuck Winn said. “We’re not talking about a minor decision.”

When Santa Clara County established an independent medical examiner’s office in 2016, the cost was estimated at more than $800,000 per year.

“What I’m concerned about is making a temporary cost rush us to a judgment that could have lasting, very long-term negative financial impacts on the county,” Supervisor Kathy Miller said.

County Administrative Officer Monica Nino acknowledged that hiring the outside expert has “taken longer than anticipated.” San Joaquin County would be one of only a handful of counties in the state to separate the coroner’s and sheriff ’s responsibilities, adding to the difficulty of finding a suitable expert who can act as an objective third party.

County Counsel Mark Myles told supervisors that he reached out to national organizations and was referred to one expert who the county came very close to hiring until questions arose about that person’s background.

“Any report he produced would end up being criticized,” Myles said. So after putting about one month of effort into that person, the county started over.

The new expert’s name has not yet been released. He will provide a report that describes how the coroner’s office is currently functioning, whether it meets standards and how it can be improved, Myles said. He also will compare the sheriff-coroner and medical examiner models, though he will not make a formal recommendation to supervisors.

The $45,000 cost is coming from the county administrator’s existing budget. The results are supposed to be presented to supervisors on April 10.

“It’s important we take the time to do the study with a lot of detail and a lot of thoughtfulness,” Nino said.

In its letter, the medical society noted that waiting until April means both pathologists’ resignations will have been finalized. Though both have said they will no longer perform autopsies, Parson’s resignation doesn’t fully take effect until Feb. 25, followed by Omalu’s on March 5.

Omalu has entered into a contract with Lake County to perform pathology services there, but his contract allows him to terminate that work with 90 days’ written notice.

Dr. Grant Mellor, president of the San Joaquin Medical Society, wrote this week that it would be difficult to recruit forensic pathologists to replace Omalu and Parson, considering the allegations of interference into their work.

“It is imperative,” Mellor wrote, “that we retain these talented physicians and get them back to work as soon as possible.”