One year after a audit harshly criticized the Cobb County Medical Examiner, the county has taken major steps at reforming the office.
Dr. Christopher Gulledge was hired as the county’s new medical examiner in February, replacing Brian Frist who was not board certified in forensic pathology.
And earlier this week, commissioners approved hiring Dr. Cassie Boggs as deputy chief medical examiner, then approved $67,000 in equipment for the office that Gulledge said was necessary to fill “significant gaps” and allow his office “to function on a daily basis.”
Boggs will make $90,000 a year, and is also a board-certified forensic pathologist. She was a critical hire for the office, said West Cobb resident Tom Cheek, whose persistent questioning of ME operations led to the internal audit and whose subsequent complaint to the Georgia Composite Medical Board led to policy changes at the office.
“There are two board certified forensic pathologists where there were none before,” Cheek said. “This insures ongoing education, and hopefully results in two doctors that can bounce ideas off each other if a case is not clear-cut.
“Board certification means that each of these doctors had at least one additional year of very specific training. It means that forensic pathology was their career of choice, and not a fallback. It means that they wanted to be a Medical Examiner. I am very happy with the choices the county has made with these two hires.”
The audit, released April 8, 2014, recommended that the county solicit proposals from other doctors capable of doing the job. Frist announced his intention to retire three months after the audit, which also found that Frist used county personnel and facilities to perform private autopsies.
“The private use of county facilities for profit could expose the county to liabilities in connection with performing those services,” the audit said. “In addition, without proper monitoring … the county cannot be assured that its cases are prioritized.”
Frist’s contract was worth $475,500 a year, the audit found. He used the county facilities for his private business at no charge.
Gulledge is being paid $210,000 a year. His salary will increase to $215,00 in November.
The other major problem identified in the audit was that neither the board of commissioners nor the county manager provided oversight of the office. It found no periodic reporting of operations to either.
Gulledge’s contract requires him to confer with county administration “to keep them informed of key issues and progress toward goals and objectives.”
“You’re seeing a revamping of the Medical Examiner’s Office,” Commissioner Bob Ott said.
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