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A state grant of $100,000 was awarded to Lycoming County to begin the purchase and development of a building to house the county coroner's administrative offices, morgue, vehicles, equipment and a regional forensic autopsy center.
"After meeting with Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. and learning about the needs of his office, it was important to me to advocate for the Lycoming County Forensics and Judicial Services Building Project," said state Rep. Jamie Flick, R-South Williamsport, who represents the 83rd District of Lycoming and Union counties.
"I thank Rep. Flick for securing funding needed to kick-start the coroner's building project which has been desperately needed for more than 10 years," Kiessling said.
Specifically, the capacity of the morgue is challenged on a regular basis, Kiessling said.
"With the opioid epidemic, other complex death investigation and holding of the deceased waiting on family members to arrange final disposition, sharing of morgue space no longer meets the needs of my office," Kiessling said.
Flick was pleased to announce the grant, known as an Local Share Account grant. These grants are obtained through the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. That provides for the distribution of gaming revenues through the Commonwealth Financing Authority to support projects in the public interest within the state.
"That certainly will help," Kiessling added. "We are hoping we can do something with a building," he said. "We needed a building for many, many, many years," he said with emphasis in the telephone interview.
More recently, too, the nation experienced a two- to three-year pandemic which further identified the need for proper coroner space.
"We should not have to take contaminants home and wash them in our laundry," Kiessling said. "We should not have to decontaminate vehicles in our driveways," he said.
These types of decontamination practices have taken place for more than two decades.
Meanwhile, Kiessling said he is hopeful that negotiations with the Lycoming County commissioners can continue and this grant can expedite the process.
However, the Lundy building that the coroner was using for a year and a half in Williamsport is no longer on the market.
"There is no definite location for a home," Kiessling said.
Through the grant awarded to the county, once the coroner's office personnel have a home, then they can use the $100,000 to buy equipment and for additions such as a refrigeration unit.
"We struggle many weekends with space at the hospital," Kiessling said.
UPMC Williamsport has become a Level Two Trauma Center, so the coroner's office and hospital -- in terms of the morgue -- are vying for space, according to the coroner.
"This weekend was tight," Kiessling said. "We had several we brought in and we are holding and waiting for families to make decisions and get their financial arrangements in order," he said.
The coroner morgue is holding bodies for autopsies, for toxicology tests and it is not uncommon for the deceased to be held for days, weeks and months at a time, particularly if the family of the deceased does not have the funds for a funeral and needs time to work out those arrangements.
The coroner's personnel also require a building that has showers, evidence and storage areas, a more secure hooded area where items such as cell phones can be kept and be separated so that coroner and staff does not come into contact with dangerous street drugs such as fentanyl and the newest scourge hitting streets xylazine -- a horse tranquilizer that is accounting for overdose death as it is becoming an additive to fentanyl and heroin.
Kiessling reiterated his gratitude to Rep. Flick and he added the name of state Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township, both of whom, he said, have been responsive to the coroner's needs.