December 27, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
Putting it in writing!
Although the county had an understanding of how much to pay, it was recently discovered that there is no written policy for payment of the medical examiner and medical investigator per death call and that has recently apparently caused some confusion.
As a contracted service, Dr. Denise Dingle is paid $5,000 a year by the county as medical director and $100 per body as medical examiner. However County Mayor Matt Adcock reported to the county commission in November that an invoice from July, when Dingle was on suspension and not the ME, charged a $200 fee for one decedent
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission adopted a written policy as recommended by the government services committee to become effective February 1, 2025.
Under the policy, “$200 will be paid to the Medical Examiner per body. The $200 will be $100 for the Medical Examiner and $100 for the Medical Investigator. 911 will notify the Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner will be responsible for contacting a Medical Investigator on each body. The Medical Examiner will be responsible for paying the Medical Investigator within 30 days of receiving the money from the county. A DeKalb County employee can be the Medical Investigator as long as they are not on the DeKalb County clock during the investigation”.
County Mayor Adcock said members of the DeKalb Ambulance Service trained in medical death investigations may be called upon during their off-time to perform this duty but not while they are on the clock because that amounts to double dipping according to the state comptroller.