Eastern Health says it’s already taken steps to ensure the right bodies are taken from its morgue at the Health Sciences Centre.
The Telegram reported that the wrong body was recently removed from the morgue and cremated by accident.
In a statement to VOCM News, Eastern Health says security and funeral home staff failed to follow policy, leading to the error.
Eastern Health says it has a policy and process in place for the release of remains from the morgue—adding that it outlines the requirements for documentation, transport, transfer, and release to a funeral home.
It says there is a two-check system that includes verification of the body’s identification by security and Eastern Health staff and the funeral home before being both released and accepted by the funeral home. Security personnel provide access to the morgue for funeral home staff, and Eastern Health notes that security are required to cross-check the identity.
Neither the funeral home involved nor the date of the incident was provided. Paladin Security, which services the Health Sciences Centre, referred all media inquiries to Eastern Health.
The health authority says they have contacted the families involved and offered sincere apologies. They also say they’ve already acted to make sure there’s no repeat of the mistake, including additional education and training for security and other staff involved in the process.
Meanwhile, the province’s Embalmers and Funeral Directors Board is declining comment on the incident.
PC Critic Concerned by Error
(File photo.)
Meanwhile, the Opposition critic for Health and Community Services is expressing concern and dismay over the terrible mix-up. Paul Dinn offered his sincerest condolences to the families involved.
He told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly that a report following the disappearance of vital evidence in the shaking death of an infant a few years ago resulted in a number of key recommendations.
Dinn says his understanding is that there is a process involved before a body is released from the morgue, involving a security guard who accompanies funeral staff to the morgue where identification is checked.
He’s not sure where the system fell down, but some 60 recommendations were made in the 2017 report on the sharing of services between the Medical Examiner’s Office and Eastern Health and he’s wondering how that kind of a mix up could happen as recently as a couple of months ago.
