Manitowoc County’s coroner says he’s in favor of changing the role to a medical examiner position.
Curt Green was on WOMT’s Be My Guest last Wednesday (May 28th) to explain how both systems in the state work.
According to the National Institute of Health, a coroner is usually elected to the job, while a medical examiner is normally appointed and is certified in a medical specialty like forensic pathology.
Green says in Wisconsin, most death investigators are considered lay medical examiners.
“Which are people who are not physicians or typically not physicians,” he explained. “But they are qualified people, and the county board would set the qualifications for who they would want to hire in that position.”
The Manitowoc County Coroner says neighboring counties have transitioned to a lay medical examiner over the years including, Calumet, Ozaukee, and Sheboygan Counties.
Something Green said he’d also like to see is the Wisconsin Legislature standardize the requirements of the medical examiner’s office, which can’t be done with a coroner system also in place.
Green noted, “My expectation is within the next 15-20 years, coroners will be phased out.”
Green also called it frustrating because the only person between a lay medical examiner system and a coroner system who is required to have any medical training is a chief deputy medical examiner.
He says he would like to see the state set standards for all medical examiners to have certain training.
Manitowoc County’s Personnel Committee will meet tomorrow (June 3rd) in the administration building to discuss possible action to create a Medical Examiner Department and change from a coroner to a medical examiner.
