Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner

Last updated
Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner
Seal of Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.png
Department overview
FormedJune 24, 1850
Preceding department
  • Los Angeles County Coroner
Jurisdiction Los Angeles County, California
Headquarters Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California
Department executive
  • Odey C. Ukpo M.D., Chief Medical Examiner
Website me.lacounty.gov
Los Angeles County Medical Examiner Building in 2008 Los Angeles County Coroner Building.JPG
Los Angeles County Medical Examiner Building in 2008

The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner is the medical examiner's office of the government of the County of Los Angeles, California. It is located at the Boyle Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Contents

The office was created in its present form on December 17, 1920, by an ordinance approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, although it has existed in some form since the appointment of the first county coroner in 1850. [1] The office was previously known as the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner and the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner.

List of chief medical examiners

The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner recognized the following individuals as its leaders in the agency's history. [2] [1]

No.NameFromTo
Los Angeles County Coroner (1850–1957)
1 Alpheus P. Hodges, M.D.18501851
2Rafael (Ralph) C. Guirado1852
3Joseph Stillman Mallard1853
4Thomas A. Mayes18541855
5Q. A. Sneed1856
6 James Brown Winston, M.D.1857
7A. Cook1858
8Henry A. Miles1859
9H. P. Swain18601861
10J. S. Griffin, M.D.18621865
11J. L. Smith18661867
12Vincent Gelcich, M.D.18681869
13Joseph Kurtz, M.D.18701873
14N. P. Richardson18741875
15Joseph Kurtz, M.D.18761877
16J. Hannon18781879
17Louis Hubert Nadeau, M.D.18791884
18Andrew McFarland, M.D.18851886
19J. M. Meredith18871890
20William Amasa Weldon, M.D.18911893
21 Horace Getchell Cates, M.D.18931895
22George Walter Campbell, M.D.18951899
23L. T. Holland, M.D.18991902
24John Henry Trout, M.D.19021907
25Roy Stanley Lanterman, M.D.19071908
26 Calvin Hartwell 19081920
27F. T. Williams19201921
28Frank Albert Nance19211945
29Ben Harlan Brown19451953
30E. A. Winstanley19531957
Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner
1 Theodore Joslyn Curphey, M.D.19571966
2 Thomas T. Noguchi, M.D.19661983
3 Ronald Kornblum, M.D.19831990
acting J. Lawrence Cogan, M.D.19901992
4 Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, M.D.19922013
5Mark A. Fajardo, M.D.20132016
actingChristopher Rogers, M.D.2017
6Jonathan R. Lucas, M.D.20172022
interimOdey C. Ukpo, M.D., M.S.20222023
72023present

Former administrative roles

Director (office abolished)
1Ilona Lewis19901993
2Anthony T. Hernandez19932012
interimLakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, M.D.20122013

Recent chief medical examiners

Mark A. Fajardo

On July 9, 2010, the Board of Supervisors approved the appointment of Mark A. Fajardo, the Chief Forensic Pathologist at Riverside County, as the Medical Examiner-Coroner, at an annual salary of $275,000. [3] He formally replaced Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, who served 2 years as the Coroner, in August 2013. [4]

Mark Fajardo resigned in March 2016. A news report indicated that "he left because it became common to have up to 50 bodies waiting to be processed and the backlog of bodies was 'nuts'. ... and toxicology tests were taking six months to complete" due to inadequate staffing. [5] Fajardo's predecessor, Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, was re-appointed on an interim basis on April 11, 2016.[ citation needed ]

Jonathan R. Lucas

Jonathan R. Lucas was appointed as the Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner on July 10, 2017. Lucas announced his intent to leave DMEC in September 2022.[ citation needed ]

Odey C. Ukpo

On November 4, 2022, Odey C. Ukpo, Medical Director of the Department, was sworn in as Interim Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner. Ukpo is the first African American to serve as Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner since the office was established in 1850. Ukpo joined the Department in 2014 and served as a Senior Deputy Medical Examiner before being named Medical Director in June 2022. [6] [7] On March 7, 2023, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors appointed Odey C. Ukpo as Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner. [8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Waldron, Granville Arthur (December 1959). "Courthouses of Los Angeles County" . The Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly. 41 (4). University of California Press: 345–374. doi:10.2307/41169414. JSTOR   41169414 . Retrieved 16 Aug 2023. The state legislature then ordered elections to be held in the counties on April 1, 1850, for the purpose of electing county officials… The Court of Sessions held its first meeting on June 24, 1850, attended by most of the newly elected County officials. This marked the official beginning of county government in Los Angeles.
  2. ↑ "Department History – Medical Examiner". Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner. Los Angeles County. Archived from the original on 2023-03-15. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  3. ↑ "Appointment, Salary, and Relocation Reimbursement for Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner" (PDF). Chief Executive Office. County of Los Angeles. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Villacorte, Christina (September 4, 2013). "L.A.'s first new coroner in decades faces tough tasks". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  5. ↑ "2016 in Review: 16 LA stories that mattered this year - Coroner Resigns". Los Angeles Daily News. December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  6. ↑ "LA County appoints Ukpo as interim coroner". Los Angeles Daily News. November 6, 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  7. ↑ "Dr. Odey C. Ukpo appointed by Board of Supervisors as Interim Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner". County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner-Coroner. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  8. ↑ "Dr. Odey C. Ukpo Appointed as Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner. On June 29, 2023, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors officially approved a name change for the department to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, with the newly renamed department addressing in a statement that the removal of "coroner" was needed to reinforce the department's role as an unbiased and independent investigative agency, unattached to any law enforcement agency". Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. County of Los Angeles. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
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