The DuPage County Coroner’s Office; Where Investigation Meets Medicine

Fighting the Opioid Epidemic

The opioid epidemic is a national crisis and DuPage County has not been immune from its terrible effects.

• As a Physician Dr Jorgensen witnessed the ravages of addiction and as a Coroner he was one of the first in the country to sound the alarm to the opioid epidemic.

• As a scientist Rich saw the number of overdose deaths rising and investigated each individual case to better understand why these deaths were occurring.

• He has been collecting and analyzing the personal, investigative and toxicological information on each overdose death since 2012.

• The DuPage Narcan Program was one of the first responses to this epidemic. Naloxone (Narcan) is a strong antidote to all opioid drugs.

  • Brad Bloom - Chief of Police in Hinsdale (former) and Dr Jorgensen Co-Founded the program on Sept 11, 2013.

  • The DuPage Health Department was a leader in organizing and implementing this program, which provides training and the drug Narcan to all First Responders in the County. The DuPage Narcan Program was the first county-wide First Responder Naloxone treatment program in the country.

  • As a Licensed Physician, Dr Jorgensen signed the first prescriptions for NARCAN that made the life-saving drug available to first-responders throughout DuPage County.

  • By spring 2014 essentially all DuPage County, and some outlying, municipal Police Departments were trained to carry and in the use of naloxone (Narcan) to treat those dying of opioid overdoses.

  • To date more than 5,000 Law Enforcement officers have been trained in 84 Program Sites including Schools, Libraries, Treatment Centers, Fire Departments, Law Enforcement Departments (mainly DuPage, but 12 in Cook County as well).

  • As of July 15, 2020 over 800 overdose reversals (lives saved) have been performed by those trained in this program.

  • Dr Jorgensen has served as a member of the DuPage Narcan Program Steering Committee since its inception.

• Dr. Jorgensen is a founding member of The Heroin/Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Taskforce, which is a joint operation of the DuPage County Board and the DuPage County Health Department dedicated to winning the war against opioid addiction.

• Dr. Jorgensen identified the fentanyl epidemic early on because of his attention to detail, collection of data, and case by case analysis of toxicology reporting.

  • While reported heroin deaths were decreasing in 2016, Dr. Jorgensen argued that the opioid problem was not slowing. He was collecting and analyzing data in overdose cases.  Based on this, he identified and reported the dangerous rise in the use of a new street opioid, fentanyl, and increasing overdose deaths due to this new preferred drug.

• Dr Jorgensen has become a recognized leader in opioid awareness and education, a subject matter expert, & has spoke on these topics at:

  • The local level - County Board, Municipal boards, School assemblies, Lions, Kiwanis, and Rotary Clubs.

  • The state level - Member of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s Opioid Task Force, testifying before the Illinois General Assembly, the Illinois Violent Death Reporting System (IVDRS) & Statewide Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS) Committee, the Governor’s Opioid Task Force.

  • The national level - NACO (National Association of County Officials) Health Steering Committee.

• Dr. Jorgensen has secured monetary grants received to fund education, training and treatment.

  • IVDRS & SUDORS Grant - toxicology testing funds.

  • SAMSA Grant- Narcan procurement, education and distribution.

  • CARA Grant - $1.16 million for education, research and treatment.

COVID-19 Preparation and Planning

Dr. Jorgensen is a leader in COVID-19 pandemic awareness, education, planning and preparation.

• As the number of cases across the country rose and the disease was declared an Epidemic Dr. Jorgensen received daily briefings, participated in regular communication with Federal, State and Local authorities to be aware of the latest knowledge of this changing crisis.

  • Dr. Jorgensen used this up-to-date knowledge to communicate and educate staff, deputies and the surrounding communities of the emerging pandemic.

• Dr. Jorgensen ensured that the DuPage County Coroners Office was prepared for the worst case scenario:

  • Procured a Mobile Morgue to ensure that deceased persons would be treated with dignity and respect even if there was mass fatality event.

  • Communication on a regular basis with:

    • The County Health Department

    • Hospitals/Physicians

    • Nursing homes

    • Funeral Directors/Homes

• Dr. Jorgensen helped communicate Safe Opening Education and Guidelines.

• Dr. Jorgensen previously assisted in the creation of a comprehensive “Disaster Plan” for the county:

  • This was a collaboration with the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (OSHEM), other County Departments, local Law Enforcement, Fire Departments and others municipal agencies and actors.

  • Dr. Jorgensen assisted in writing and then disseminating the “Disaster Plan.”

  • As part of this plan, Dr. Jorgensen obtained supplies and organized the capacity for four workstations in the morgue if necessary to handle a mass disaster.

  • Dr. Jorgensen created a Disaster Equipment Supply Room to maintain adequate supplies and equipment to handle up to a 150 person mass fatality event.

Being Fiscally Responsible

During Dr. Jorgensen’s tenure he has worked diligently to run his office in a fiscally responsible manner. When Rich was elected Coroner in 2012, the office budget was approximately $75,000 in the red.

• In Dr. Jorgensen’s first year he was able to balance that budget.

  • Dr. Jorgensen prepares and presents the Coroner’s annual budget to the County Board for approval.

    • The Coroner’s Office currently has a $1,748,407.00 approved budget

    • Dr Jorgensen addressed and repaired an initial budget deficit of $75,000.

    • Since then, the Coroner’s Office has run a balanced budget for seven straight years.

• Dr. Jorgensen has led the Coroner’s Office to participate in federal, state and local research programs:

  • IVDRS (Illinois Violent Death Reporting Sysytem)

  • SUDORS (Statewide Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System)

    • This resulted in $80,000 in funding to the office from grant money.

• Dr. Jorgensen hired an independent ambulance company as the transport service for deceased.

  • This was accomplished using an open bid process to identify the most fiscally appropriate vendors.

  • An independent committee made the final hiring decision to ensure independence and transparency.

  • The result of this change was a net cost saving due to the reduction in transportation fees and deputy overtime used during the prior service.

• Dr. Jorgensen also brings years of managerial experience from his time running his own surgical practice.

  • His practice included 25 employees and 9 surgeons.

• Obtained funding and organized preservation and improvement of the Coroner’s facilities:

  • Upgraded and replaced aging and out of date equipment.

  • Complete replacement of the obsolete and failing x-ray equipment.

    • Upgraded of non-working second x ray suite (auxiliary and disaster response capability).

    • Replacement of entire HVAC System which is outdated and unhealthy as it circulated potentially contaminated air throughout entire facility using COVID-19 related funds Federal Grant.

    • Upgraded capacity deceased body storage system for mass fatality planning and preparation.

    • Bought heavy duty lift system to allow use in safe manner.

• The transition from paper to electronic records was initiated and completed under Dr. Jorgensen’s supervision.

  • Eliminated the creation of 5,500 file folders and printed records, instituting a total electronic record keeping system. This resulted in:

    • Large budget savings.

    • Easier accessibility and transparency.

    • Ecologically beneficial.

Training and Developing Coroner Personnel

Dr. Jorgensen immediately brought his Administrative skills and Medical background to the office seeking to Professionalize and update the DuPage County Coroners Office to National Standards.

Enhanced professionalism by:

• Requiring all Deputies to obtain and maintain certification in American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI).

  • All deputies, including the Coroner, are certified and three are Master Diplomats.

  • The Coroner’s Office has 10 such investigators assigned to investigate deaths in the county.

• Adopting Department of Justice (DOJ) and American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI) national standards to all death investigations.

• Improved Communication and Transparency with the Public, Free Press, Hospitals, Physicians, Funeral Homes/Directors, nursing homes, hospice and law enforcement.

• The complete rewriting and updating of the website (4 years out of date) to better communicate our authority, obligations and Policy and Procedures.

• Improved Deputy Cooperation and Communication:

  • Encouraged positive and productive working relationships with police, fire departments, funeral directors, and State’s Attorney’s Office.

  • Emphasized family relationships and communication to the closure of the case and beyond.

• Created and disseminated Policy and Procedure Manual.

  • Policy and Procedures Manual was created encompassing Local, State and National Standards.

• Created Policy and Procedures for Evidence & Property Management.

  • Upgraded procedure and created policy consistent with national standards for collection of  evidence and property, maintaining a proper chain of evidence, management system and secure storage.

  • Maintains competency by providing funding and educational time for staff to attend Evidence and Property Management Training on a yearly basis.

  • Improved office Efficiency.

    • Administered preservation and protection of entire Historical Coroner Record.

    • The majority of the historical records spanning the history of the department were copied to microfiche by a previous administration. Though that was the standard at the time it has proved to be an unreliable long-term storage mechanism. The historical records were decaying and at risk of being lost forever. These records were converted to digital records stored in multiple locations, thus, safely preserving all Coroner Records for posterity.

• Enhanced education of the office for staff by:

  • Encouraging and Emphasizing Staff and Deputy Education and Training.

  • Workplace culture of continual improvement and education.

  • The creation of a training manual for staff.

  • Increasing the annual education budget for staff.

• Improved working conditions and office efficiency through common sense improvements for the staff:

  • Introduced a more efficient shift work schedule that fostered a better mental and physical health for employees.

  • Improved timely completion of death investigations, resulting in more quickly closed cases and filing death certificates.

  • Empowered all deputies to follow through on their cases from the initial call to case closure.

    • Average completion time for a death investigation in 2012 ranged between 3-6 months.

    • Current average completion time for a death investigation is 1 month.

  • Created Senior Deputy position with increased salary and responsibilities to provide extra checks and balances on case investigation and management

  • Empowered Senior Deputies to decide case management for removal and further forensic investigation.