Politics & Government
Office Of Chief Medical Examiner Given National Accredidation
The office was given full accreditation from a national organization that promotes certain standards in pathology and death investigation.
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was given full accreditation from a national organization that promotes certain standards in pathology and death investigation, according to a statement from Angela Yip, a spokesperson for the City Administrator.
The National Association of Medical Examiners, known by its acronym NAME is the premier accreditation organization for coroners and medical offices in the U.S.
San Francisco's medical examiner previously held accreditation from the organization from 1982 to 2017, when the accreditation lapsed. It was again given preliminary approval in November, 2021, and achieved a full, 10-year accreditation last month, according to Yip's statement.
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NAME has about 350 requirements that measure quality and success. San Francisco is just the second medical examiner in California to achieve accreditation.
Some of the standards include completing 90 percent of autopsy reports, toxicology reports, and final death certificates within 90 days, and in 90 percent of cases the deceased is identified and next of kin notified within 24 hours.
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Increased staffing also helped achieve the standards, Yip said. The medical examiner's office has hired two new assistant medical examiners, three new medical examiner investigators, three new forensic autopsy technicians, and two new forensic laboratory analysts.
Yip credited Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Liverman for the recognition.
"When I started at the OCME eighteen months ago, we instituted policy changes designed to streamline the completion of forensic studies, in order to help bring closure to the families of San Francisco," Dr. Liverman said in a statement. "This milestone is confirmation that the policies, in conjunction with the city's investment, are working."
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