The provincial NDP says two more freezer units have recently been added in the basement parking garage at the Health Sciences Centre to store bodies from the morgue.

There was a public outcry when it first came to light last year that such units outside the hospital, and in full view, were being used to store a rising number of unclaimed bodies.

Government and NL Health Services responded by moving the units into the hospital’s parking garage as work continues to expand the Health Sciences morgue.

Questions raised at the time centred around the opioid crisis and whether income support payments were sufficient to address the rising cost of living, including the amount provided for funeral services.

NDP Leader Jim Dinn says the province needs to address why bodies are being left to pile up, instead of just installing more freezer units.

“Families deserve better,” Dinn insists.

NL Health Services says it has not recently added any new freezer units at the Health Sciences for unclaimed bodies.