(WWJ) After photos showed human remains stacked in a hospital room, and at least one report of a misplaced loved one, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has issued an emergency order related to the handling of bodies amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
MDHHS Director Robert Gordon on Monday issued an order that shortens the time frame hospitals and funeral directors have to contact individuals with authority over disposition of the body of a deceased individual and the amount of time that individual has to make a decision regarding arrangements for the deceased.
As of last report Monday, there have been 4,135 deaths in the state linked to COVID-19.
“The increase in deaths has placed a significant burden on the hospitals and funeral homes in our state,” said Gordon. “We need to alleviate this burden and ensure the safe, proper and respectful handling of Michiganders’ remains.”
The order provides hospitals and funeral directors 24 hours to attempt to contact persons with authority over disposition of the body of a deceased individual, including family members. If no such person can be located within that time, the duty falls to a county medical examiner.
Also under the order, if a a person with authority over the disposition of a body is identified, they have 48 hours from the time of death to make a decision and complete arrangements regarding disposition. Failure to act within 48 hours of notification forfeits the right to make that decision.
The order also relaxes certain licensing provisions for funeral directors, allows funeral directors and medical examiners to authorize embalming, and allows for storage of bodies at a temporary storage facility provided by the Michigan Mortuary Response Team or at an alternate site procured by the license holder.
Last month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called it an "incredibly sad" situation as the state launched an investigation at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit over reports of bodies being piled up in rooms. Photos from the hospital were shown throughout the nation, after CNN said it acquired the images from an emergency room worker.
Sinai-Grace is the same hospital that a Detroit firefighter alleges lost his mother's body after she died of COVID-19. "Long story short, they didn't tell us what happened, how it happened and where they found her, but they did locate her, and they got her in the proper hands of the funeral home," Alfonzo May told WWJ.