Crow Wing County Tuesday awarded the two-year contract for its medical examiner service to Dr. M. B. McGee.
The county previously contracted the service with Dr. Janis Amatuzio of Anoka County. With McGee, examinations and autopsies would be performed in the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's office in St. Paul.
The county records showed an average of 49 autopsies each year between 1999 and 2006. If that rate continues, the county reported the contract with McGee could save the county $55,000 per year.
McGee's service was described as a pay-as-you-go service. McGee charges about $3,000 per year for administrative fees and about $2,000 per case depending on laboratory testing requirements and $300 per hour for cases requiring court testimony for a grand jury or trial.
The board heard from McGee and a doctor representing Amatuzio's office. One of the differences between the contracts is that sheriff's deputies will be trained to handle the death scene as deputy coroners. Currently, the deputy coroners are Amatuzio's employees.
County Administrator Tim Houle said with McGee deputy sheriffs will now stay on the scene to do the death investigation where in the past they would stay at the scene until the deputy coroner arrived. Houle said counties with deputy sheriffs serving in that capacity reported being perfectly happy with that arrangement.
McGee said the system he is proposing for Crow Wing County is used in 14 other counties and has worked well. He said law enforcement can do it and it has worked for 25 years in St. Paul and provides a significant cost savings.
Commissioner Dewey Tautges said he thought constituents would be interested in the cost savings and if the service doesn't work, the county could always go back to Amatuzio.
Additionally, the board awarded the medical transport service contract to Brenny Funeral Chapel of Baxter for a two-year contract for $250 per trip. The county discontinued a long-standing tradition of paying to bring the body back to the Brainerd area. It was one of a minority of counties that provided the cost of the return service.
Brenny Funeral Service was the low bidder. Paul Koering had the second bid at $340 per transport from Crow Wing County to the morgue. Koering, Republican state senator from Fort Ripley, previously provided the medical transport service for the county. Koering said he provided a neutral service because he didn't have a funeral home.
Koering questioned how Joe Brenny could cut his current contract with the county for $350 per trip down to $250 for this bid given the history of gas prices. Board Chairwoman Rachel Reabe Nystrom said that was a good question. Brenny answered "efficient management."
The contract to Brenny received criticism in the past because of a perceived potential for generating business to his own funeral home through the transport service.
The county received a letter from Koop Funeral Home, Kline Funeral Home, Halvorson-Johnson Funeral Home and Nelson-Doran Funeral Home requesting they be allowed to select a funeral home in the Twin Cities for embalming and be allowed individually to have an option to transport bodies back from the metro area. The funeral homes said in the past year they've had to work with a Twin Cities funeral provider with a subcontract with Brenny to provide coroner transportation which created a monopoly situation.
Brenny said the issue has been clouded and it's in the best interest of the county to have prompt professional service and it will be up to the family's choice where the body will go.
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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