Preckwinkle Orders Morgue To Address Dead Body Backlog

By aaroncynic in News on Jan 23, 2012 9:40PM

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle appointed a senior staff member to work with the Medical Examiner’s office daily to address the large pileup of bodies at the county morgue. The Sun Times reports at least 300 unclaimed bodies, possibly 400, still lay at the morgue waiting for burial. Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Nancy Jones said budget cuts from the state are to blame for the body count.

Last summer $13 million was cut from a state program which assists to bury people on public aid. Without those funds, Jones said, the bodies could not be buried. The funding has since been reinstated.

At a news conference, Preckwinkle said, “This week I detailed a senior [staff] member…to be present in the Medical Examiner’s Office every day going forward to see if we can address some of the issues there. I think it’s fair to say we have some ongoing management issues there.”