York County morgue offers no solace for families

Update: Two years later, York County is considering building a morgue at the county jail. 

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Craig Linn had to wait four days before he could look upon the face of his 18-year-old son, who had died in a car crash. 

That wait – distressing at it may be – is routine in York County. 

READ: York County coroner moves office, wants new morgue

Nowhere in the county is there a place, in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic and unexpected death, where a parent, a spouse, a son or a daughter can go to view a loved one, no place to confront the reality of an untimely death, no quiet, private place to begin grieving. 

Not in the hospital, not in the morgue. 

Jacob Linn died at the scene of a crash on Jan. 10, 2015. 

His body was taken directly to the morgue at Wellspan York Hospital. 

READ: Coroner's office to relocate to historic Strickler House

York County has no morgue of its own and for decades has relied on the charity of York Hospital for space in its small basement morgue. Family members are not allowed access to the morgue.

So, while the hospital could provide the proper place to hold Jacob's body, it has no area where his parents could see him before he was moved to Allentown for an autopsy. 

Four days after the fatal crash, Jacob's body was returned from autopsy and taken to a York County funeral home. There, Jacob's father and grandmother finally could see him and say their last goodbyes.

READ: Rediscovering joy after a death in the family

By that point, Jacob's mother, Tracy, was too distraught to view her son's body. Had there been an opportunity to see him in the hours after the crash, she said, she likely would have.   

York County Coroner Pam Gay said some may think the fleeting opportunity to say goodbye to a loved one in the aftermath of an untimely death is not a necessity. That is, she said, "until it's your family member."  

"It helps emotionally with closure," Gay said. "Being a nurse, that is very important to me. It offers some comfort and solace" to the victim's family.  

READ: Using a childhood loss to help others

 York County morgue situation  

The longtime agreement between the county coroner's office and York Hospital has become an inconvenience to both. Deaths, of course, rise as the county's population expands. 

And the death rate here -- exacerbated by the ongoing heroin and opioid crises and the county's aging citizenry – has outgrown the available space at the hospital morgue. 

In a county with a population of approximately 440,000, York Hospital can store eight adult bodies and two child-sized bodies. That limited space has at times resulted in somewhat urgent calls to families to have their loved ones moved to a funeral home to free up room for another body, Gay said.  

READ: Coroner: Youth suicides, opioids stand out in annual report

Late in 2016, the coroner's office dealt with eight drug overdose cases within a matter of days. Gay said that caused some frustration with the hospital administration because the hospital, of course, requires its own morgue space for the bodies of patients who die there and need to be held until families can make funeral arrangements.  

Rick Ayers, vice president of marketing and public relations for Wellspan, said the hospital would like to continue its decades-long "community service" of providing morgue space to the county. But, he said, the hospital recognizes the constraints of limited morgue space and a growing county population. 

He said the hospital is "not in a position to expand" its morgue. 

York County President Commissioner Susan Byrnes said Gay has made her aware of the limitations of the only available morgue in the county and knows the county will soon be in need of morgue facilities of its own. 

She said consideration of building a morgue or finding more morgue space "probably will be a priority in '17, '18" for the commissioners.  

READ: York County Coroner: Local heroin problem is undeniable, and Narcan is saving lives (column)

The Linns: Year Two  

It wasn't until a year after her son's death that Tracy Linn, who now works for the York County Department of Traffic Safety, was emotionally ready to look at the crash scene pictures of Jacob. 

She said the first year was "just pure numbness." 

"In Year Two, reality sets in," she said.  

READ: York County mother shares grief to save others

Tracy asked Gay if it was possible to view the coroner's pictures of the crash.  

Gay picked out what she thought would be appropriate photographs for a mother to view and they sat at Gay's desk in the overcrowded coroner's office to look at them.  

The coroner's office has no other private area where they could view the photographs.  

No viewing area 

A registered nurse for more than 35 years, Gay is concerned about the lack of a place for the family of a trauma victim to view the body.  

The bodies of trauma victims who die in the emergency department can be viewed there if the family and friends are there, or nearby. But next of kin might need hours or more to travel to the hospital. Once a body is moved to the morgue, that viewing opportunity is gone.  

York College assistant professor Jeanna Mastrocinque said a family's need to be close to a loved one soon after death is almost essential to the grieving process.  

READ: York Co. coroner looking for next of kin for man

Mastrocinque is the co-author of "I’m still left here with the pain: Exploring the health consequences of homicide on families and friends." That study focused on the effects of homicide on a victim's family and friends.  

And, while not always possible, being able to touch the body of a deceased loved one also is important, she said.  

Mastrocinque said her research showed that "One of the first things (family and friends) wanted was to be with a loved one and to touch them."  

Morgue tour  

In nearby Adams County, Coroner Pat Felix is proud of the simple, but family-minded morgue facility there. That morgue opened in 2003 as part of the county's new prison project.  

"One of the main goals (of the new morgue) was getting a viewing room," Felix said.  

That room is about 10 feet by 12 feet, carpeted and dimly lit with a large window looking into a bay where a body placed on a gurney can be rolled into view.  

READ: Fatal crash victim was 'a sweet, kind woman'

The area behind the body is screened off to block the imposing door to the cooler and the thermometer next to the door from view, "because that's kind of morbid," Felix said.  

"Is it the best (morgue)?" Felix said. "No, but we have one."  

She said some families take the opportunity to view a loved one's remains there and others opt to wait to see the body at a funeral home. 

READ: Kwame Beatty was more than just 'the victim' (column)

The Serene Room 

A viewing room at a county-owned morgue admittedly would see limited use in the overall picture of the county. 

In Adams County, where Felix ordered 70 autopsies last year, she uses the viewing room a couple dozen times a year.  

In York County, 183 autopsies were ordered last year.  

Extrapolating those numbers, a viewing room in a York County morgue likely would be used 50 to 65 times a year. 

READ: 'God spared my life': She survived shooting herself in the head

"Families need this kind of setting," Craig Linn said. "Somewhere that they can put closure to what happened." 

If and when the county does build a morgue, Gay said, it will include a viewing room where a family could see a loved one's body through a window, or sit and have a private, quiet place to grieve.  

The Linns want to sponsor and furnish that room.  

"We are calling it the Serene Room," Tracy said.