The province’s newly renovated and expanded morgue was officially unveiled to the public Friday with a media tour of the facility.
The new morgue, which has been in operation at the Health Sciences Centre since early June, features increased capacity to store up to 96 bodies.
The previous holding facility, which was built in 1972, only had capacity for 12 bodies.
Overcrowding forced the health authority to bring in portable freezer units last year, causing a public outcry.
Corey Murray, Daniel Parsons and Ron Johnson of NLHS (VOCM News)
Daniel Parsons, a director of planning and engineering with NLHS, says the previous space created safety issues for staff.
“What we’ve done is we’ve created a purpose-built space…separated between NL Health Services as well as the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.”
Parsons says the new morgue, which is part of the health authority’s lab modernization project, takes demographic changes into account.
“We built the site to accommodate our current needs as well as projected into the future.”
A freezer unit at the new morgue (VOCM News)
