The Medical Examiner's Office in Jacksonville has gotten a new trailer and will have a new outdoor walk-in morgue cooler to help them expand as a temporary fix in lieu of a building expansion.
The trailer was delivered to the Medical Examiner's office on Monday and the cooler, which will expand the available morgue space from 42 to 82, will be delivered on April 9. This is just a temporary fix to house more bodies and more employees and avoid overcrowding while the office waits for a budget to be approved for its expansion. The five-year plan would include a $50 million budget to build a new facility.
The need for more employees and more spaces is due to a myriad of things, including a growing population and homicides, according to a spokesperson with the Medical Examiner's Office. The original proposal asking for the cooler and trailer cited "an increase in drug-related overdoses," including fentanyl-related deaths, making a significant increase in the need for autopsy services.
The cooler and trailer were purchased for just over $200,000. The Medical Examiner's Office has asked for a permanent building expansion from the City but it has not been acted on yet.