POLITICS

Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office moves out of mega-agency

Ventura

The office that investigates unexpected deaths in Ventura County will become an independent county department effective July 1, county supervisors decided last week.

Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Young proposed shifting the office out of the Health Care Agency, the largest unit in the county government. The office will now be directly under the administrative oversight of the office of County Executive Officer Mike Powers.

Young told the Ventura County Board of Supervisors that the change is in line with a national recommendation calling for medical examiner's offices to be independent agencies. He said the shift will be cost neutral, will improve efficiency and has the support of Powers' office, administrators in the Health Care Agency and law enforcement.

“At the risk of sounding too clinical, I think it is a no-brainer," Young told the board early last week at its meeting in Ventura.

Dig deeper:

He cited a 2009 report called "Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States," which says medical examiner systems should be independent agencies or should report to a commission to avoid conflicts of interest.

The decision would not make the agency independent of county government. But it would make it one of about a dozen county departments that deal directly with Powers' office without being accountable to a larger county agency. The medical examiner's office would not have the power of elected officials, such as the district attorney and sheriff, who are accountable directly to the voters.

With 13 full-time employees and a budget of $3.3 million, the local medical examiner's office makes up a tiny part of the Health Care Agency. The mega-agency employs more than 2,500 people, oversees seven departments and manages clinics, hospitals and other health-care programs. Its budget exceeds $800 million.

"Being part of a large agency adds layers of bureaucracy," Young said in an interview. "I think that is the main thing. We can be more efficient as an independent agency."

Young said he has not seen any particular issues with the office's ability to make decisions without interference.

Ventura is one of five counties in California with a medical examiner's system, which some experts say are less likely to be pressured by conflicts of interest than coroner systems.

Under medical examiner systems, forensic pathologists appointed by governing bodies investigate deaths. Under coroner systems, elected officials handle the duty with the aid of pathologists who perform autopsies.

Elected officials may have difficulty making unpopular rulings on cause and manner of death because they want to please the public, the national report on forensic science says.

Young, the chief medical examiner since 2017 after he moved from Oregon, said the county's "excellent" model for investigating deaths was one reason he was attracted to the job. He sees the move toward independent status as an added improvement.

Powers said the shift is part of the efforts by Young and the county to implement exemplary practices in the operation of the medical examiner's office.

Four years ago, the office was under a cloud following the discovery that a supervising investigator without a medical degree performed postmortem exams under orders from then-Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jon Smith while Smith was vacationing.

The agency has hired highly qualified pathologists and improved the facilities and technology since then, county officials said.

"It really has come a long way," Powers said.

He said the decision to move the medical examiner's office out of the Health Care Agency was not made to lighten the demands on agency Director Bill Foley although "it is a benefit." Foley, who started work early this year, is in the midst of an effort to reverse deep financial deficits in the county system of hospitals and clinics.

Kathleen Wilson covers the Ventura County government, including the county health system, politics and social services. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0271.