Editor's note: How cheap life is. This action would make Hitler proud. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Cook County considers cremation
Preckwinkle wants to make sure relatives' wishes honored
Rather than letting bodies stack up in coolers at the Cook County morgue, the medical examiner is asking for the authority to cremate them in some cases.
Dr. Stephen Cina, who took over as medical examiner last year after county officials acknowledged significantly more bodies were being stored at the morgue than it was designed to hold, said the county could hold onto many more cremated bodies for much longer, giving families additional time to collect the remains.
Cremation also is in most cases less expensive than the $480-per-corpse cost of burying unclaimed bodies, Cina said. "In most cities I've looked into, it runs about half the price," he said.
If the County Board approves the plan, which was introduced Wednesday, Cina will ask for bids from companies to do the cremations.
"Most big cities cremate, so we're just trying to get into the mainstream," he said. "It's a dignified means of final disposition. By cremating we can turn around indigent remains faster and keep the urns stored at our facility for up to two years."
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said she supports the idea of adding cremation but has some concerns.
"I just want to make sure that if we pursue a cremation policy, we are respectful of the families' wishes," Preckwinkle said. "That's my personal preference, but I would defer to the medical examiner."
Cina acknowledged that some people don't agree with cremation. But he said that when the county is dealing with bodies that go unclaimed by next of kin or cases where survivors can't or won't pay to deal with the remains, it's difficult to determine what they prefer.
"There are also families that show up a year or two after somebody has died now, and we have to tell them somebody has been buried at public expense, and they're not happy with that, either," he said. The ordinance would not allow the county to cremate unidentified bodies.
The medical examiner ordinance was introduced the same day the County Board agreed to pay a $50,000 settlement to a family that came to the morgue to collect a body, only to learn it had inadvertently been buried.
jebyrne@tribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne
Dr. Stephen Cina, who took over as medical examiner last year after county officials acknowledged significantly more bodies were being stored at the morgue than it was designed to hold, said the county could hold onto many more cremated bodies for much longer, giving families additional time to collect the remains.
Cremation also is in most cases less expensive than the $480-per-corpse cost of burying unclaimed bodies, Cina said. "In most cities I've looked into, it runs about half the price," he said.
"Most big cities cremate, so we're just trying to get into the mainstream," he said. "It's a dignified means of final disposition. By cremating we can turn around indigent remains faster and keep the urns stored at our facility for up to two years."
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said she supports the idea of adding cremation but has some concerns.
"I just want to make sure that if we pursue a cremation policy, we are respectful of the families' wishes," Preckwinkle said. "That's my personal preference, but I would defer to the medical examiner."
Cina acknowledged that some people don't agree with cremation. But he said that when the county is dealing with bodies that go unclaimed by next of kin or cases where survivors can't or won't pay to deal with the remains, it's difficult to determine what they prefer.
"There are also families that show up a year or two after somebody has died now, and we have to tell them somebody has been buried at public expense, and they're not happy with that, either," he said. The ordinance would not allow the county to cremate unidentified bodies.
The medical examiner ordinance was introduced the same day the County Board agreed to pay a $50,000 settlement to a family that came to the morgue to collect a body, only to learn it had inadvertently been buried.
jebyrne@tribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne
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