Johnson County Opens Medical Examiner Facility
On August 13th, Johnson County held a virtual Ribbon Cutting the their new, state-of-the-art Medical Examiner Facility. The 33,000 GSF building allows the Medical Examiner’s Office (MEO) investigates deaths that occur in the county, including deaths due to violent means, are unattended or suspicious, in-custody deaths, deaths due to a public health threat, and deaths where identity is an issue. This includes deaths of individuals without a physician available and willing to sign the death certificate. Investigations may include medical record review, external examination, radiography, toxicology and/or autopsy. Following investigation, the MEO determines cause and manner of death and certifies the death certificate.
“The state-of-the-art facility was designed to honor the dignity of human life and support best practices in forensic medical examination in support of the County’s continuing commitment to our community’s health and safety.”
PGAV’s Steve Cramer at the virtual Ribbon Cutting
Starting in 2015, the design team led by PGAV Architects and associate Architect SmithGroup developed a design that met the County’s goals:
Increase autopsy rates to meet appropriate national benchmarks
Build a state of the art, high-functioning facility, known for excellence and leadership
Facilitate National Association of Medical Examiners (N.A.M.E.) accreditation by meeting scientific requirements
Provide reliable data for public health to identify trends and emerging diseases
The Medical Examiner team started moving into the facility in May, and performed it’s first autopsy on August 11th.