County picks chief medical examiner

San Diego County has a new chief medical examiner, and it’s the same person who’s been running the office in a stop-gap role since last fall.

On Friday, county officials announced that Dr. Steven Campman has shed the “interim” from his title, and is stepping full time into the job.

The office — with a staff of 57 and a budget of $12.1 million — is responsible for forensic death investigations throughout the county. According to a county news release, it investigated 3,853 deaths last year — a record, up more than 500 cases from 2019.

“I want to make sure that the department is a valuable contributor to the safety and health of the people of the county by determining the cause and manner of death for all sudden and unexpected deaths in the county — making sure that we document what conditions cause unexpected death in our population,” Campman said in a news release.

He replaces Dr. Glenn Wagner, who retired in November after running the office for 17 years.

Campman has been with the county since 2001. Most recently, he was the deputy chief medical examiner under Wagner.

Although he had been serving in the interim job, Campman’s promotion was not fait accompli. The county advertised the job opening (although county officials were unable to immediately say how many hopefuls had applied.) The salary hiring range was advertised between $270,000 and $280,000.

Campman has years of experience, and has conducted more than 5,000 autopsies over his career. He’s also testified in hundreds of court proceedings.

Before joining the county 20 years ago, he worked for the Armed Forces Medical Examiner. The county says he also spent more than 20 years in the Air Force and Air Force Reserve. He retired as a colonel in 2016.

Campman steps in as the county wrestles with COVID-19, which as of Friday had killed more than 3,200 residents.