Published: Aug. 17, 2015
The eight mid-Michigan county Medical Examiners’ offices that are run by Sparrow Forensic Pathology Services have been ranked among the nation’s best by the nation’s premier medical examiners’ professional organization.
Ingham, Ionia, Isabella and Montcalm counties received accreditation from the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) for the first time. Barry, Eaton, Livingston and Shiawassee counties’ NAME accreditations have been renewed.
Only 3 percent of offices that conduct death investigations and autopsies in the U.S. are accredited by NAME. Of the 15 NAME-accredited county medical examiners’ offices in Michigan, eight are served by Sparrow Forensic Pathology Services.
“Sparrow Forensic Pathology has developed a regional medicolegal death investigation system that delivers consistency and standardization to what could be eight extremely different ME offices. Because of the leadership umbrella provided by Sparrow Forensic Pathology, there is an expected and standard process for investigation of every ME jurisdiction death in the eight mid-Michigan counties,” said Marcus Nashelsky, M.D., professor of Pathology at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and NAME president.
A trained medical examiner investigator responds to 90 percent of the death scenes that fall under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner and the three Deputy Medical Examiners in each of the counties are board-certified forensic pathologists.