Bodies placed in odd spots in hospitals as morgues overflow

The head of a union representing workers at the Ottawa Hospital says something must be done about the excess of cadavers that has overfilled the hospital’s morgues and led to cadavers being left in unusual places at health- care facilities. Lou Burri, president of CUPE Local 4000, says his members have walked into conference rooms to find bodies left there until space opened. He says it first happened last October but has become a growing problem as the hospital’s infrastructure is stretched further beyond capacity. The hospital has not yet responded to a request for comment. The Ottawa Hospital has two major campuses and is the largest health institution in the capital. Ottawa’s hospitals conduct autopsies on many people who die in and around the region, and bodies can sit for weeks or longer before they are claimed, if they are claimed at all. Ontario’s chief coroner reported in June that there were 473 unclaimed bodies in 2018, an increase from 401 in 2017. Figures for 2019 are not yet available.