The Starke County Commissioners asked Coroner Dannie Hoffer about some invoices recently submitted.
The invoices were from 2017 and totaled about $10,000.
Hoffer explained that he thought they were turned in, but it turned out to be an oversight on his part. He noted that when he gets bills, he scans them and puts them into his computer and then turns them in to Auditor Kay Chaffins. He said this time it was an error and he will work on a better system to get them turned in on time.
In addition, Commissioner Kathy Norem asked Hoffer to talk to Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey about conducting the autopsies at her facility to help cut the cost. The county would pay $1,000 to do the autopsy in Lake County when the county is currently paying $1,800 per autopsy. Hoffer said he’d talk to her about a possible arrangement.
Another cost saving measure would be if the hospital could do a preliminary toxicology screen for suspected overdose deaths, according to Hoffer. He said if the hospital could help in doing those panels, it would give Hoffer an idea on if a toxicology test needs to be done or a complete autopsy. Currently, he said, autopsies are being conducted on all of the suspected overdose deaths because Starke Hospital doesn’t do pre-screen tests. He indicated that could save a lot of money as well.
A meeting may be set soon to discuss those details.
