Coroner's new facility is state-of-the-art

The new-construction smell is still present in the Kitsap County Coroner's facility on Linden Road in Bremerton.

"It is like going from a broken down VW to a brand new Cadillac," said Kitsap County Coroner Greg Sandstrom of the difference between the old facility in Port Orchard and the bigger and more modern facility which hosted a ribbon cutting July 8.

Sandstrom said the new facility is "one of the most state-of-the-art facilities in the state."

Construction on the 8,400-square-foot building began Aug. 1, 2008 and was completed June 1, 2009, two-months ahead of schedule.

The $3 million project combines the autopsy and administrative functions of the coroner's office, which were split when parts of the old coroner's office, a converted house near the courthouse, were deemed unsuitable for use.

The former building's size also was an inhibiting factor, according to Sandstrom. With only one autopsy station and a small walk-in cooler, space was hard to come by. The new building has space for three autopsy stations and an isolation room for completing autopsies on bodies which are possibly infected with communicable diseases. It also has a larger main cooler and a smaller isolation cooler for storage of contagious bodies.

"We have room for 20 bodies now," Sandstrom said. But in 15-and-a-half years as coroner, Sandstrom said he has only seen the former building close to capacity once.

There also is space for an X-ray machine to be purchased and installed in the future. Currently, bodies are transported to Harrison Medical Center when X-rays are needed, Sandstrom said.

The coroner's office handles some 2,000 deaths per year in Kitsap County and the staff investigate approximately 350 of those deaths, according to Sandstrom. When a person dies with no medical reason to explain it, hyper-tension, heart problems or other medical issues, the coroner's office is usually called in to investigate. Also, any body which exhibits signs of trauma is investigated, Sandstrom said.

The Kitsap County Coroner's Office has jurisdiction everywhere in Kitsap, including on naval bases and ships or boats. In fact, in most states, the coroner is the only person in the county authorized to arrest the sheriff, and Washington is no exception.

"I am the only person with the power to arrest Steve Boyer," Sandstrom said laughingly.