ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — To accommodate growth and modernize outdated infrastructure, the Chief Medical Examiner in St. Johns County is asking for a new facility.
Action News Jax got a tour inside the District 23 morgue. It serves St. Johns, Putnam, and Flagler counties and right now it is facing a range of challenges.
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“The ventilation, the smells in the morgue, that’s a challenge working in those conditions,” Wendolyn Sneed, M.D., the Chief Medical Examiner, said.
But it’s not just the smell.
They have limited operational space, inadequate decontamination areas, a lack of dedicated radiological space, and not enough storage and resources for handling projected increases in their caseloads.
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From 2005 to 2023 the office had a 60% increase in its caseload. And in the next 26 years, staffers there expect their caseload to double. So, the need for more space is crucial.
“We are literally bursting at the seam,” Sneed said.
The estimated cost of the project to build a new office is $12 million, plus, another $2 million for the design. They are asking the state for the funding for that part of the project.
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The Chief Medical Examiner hopes they can get the money for the project as soon as possible.
“To wait 4-5 years down the road and potentially lose our accreditation because we don’t have the space or the equipment to be able to perform our functions,” Sneed said.
This project is still in the very early stages. The first step is to get funding approved.
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