Hamilton County has just completed construction on a new morgue at Riverview Health in Noblesville. The $1.5 million project will more than triple the current morgue’s capacity. Coroner John Chalfin says Hamilton County’s booming population made the project necessary.
“The county is five times what it used to be and it continues to grow,” Chalfin explains. “It has also become an increasingly popular place to retire, so we’re seeing more people of advanced age. Add to that the 36 opioid deaths we had last year and I only expect that number to go up. We’re over capacity.”
Hamilton County Commissioners Mark Heirbrandt (left) and Christine Altman (center) along with Coroner John Chalfin review equipment placed in the new morgue located at Riverview Health Hospital. (Reporter photo by Jeff Jellison)
The county has long shared morgue space with Riverview Health, a non-profit, county-owned hospital, but it contained only one cooler with the capacity for two bodies. Chalfin expects his office to handle more than 475 deaths this year alone. That doesn’t account for the space Riverview will need to handle its own deceased.
“Riverview has done some extensive remodeling, which opened up space for a larger morgue,” Chalfin explains. “The county could have built its own stand-alone morgue, but in combining efforts we saved over a million dollars and cut down on construction time.”
Chalfin and his team investigate nearly a quarter of the county’s deaths. They are responsible for tending to suspicious and unattended deaths – primarily homicides, suicides and accidental deaths. They will also investigate deaths in which a person’s doctor cannot determine a cause. The new morgue features a large cooler room and a comfortable viewing area for loved ones.
“We owe it to the people of the county to treat their loved ones with dignity,” Chalfin says. “Anything we can do to provide them with more comfort and decorum, we want to do. This new facility will allow for that.”