Travis County Medical Examiner's Office eee eee e Presentation to - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Travis County Medical Examiner's Office eee eee e Presentation to the ee ee Will iamson Cou nty e ee ee e Com missioners C ourt e May 28, 2013 1

••• .. ••• •••• " ••• ••• OBJECTIVES • • Introduction to the Medical Examiner's Office • Why build a new facility? • Consultant Report / Four Service Scenarios • Next Steps • Financial Model Options • Williamson County Future Planning • Open Discussion / Closing Comments 2

••• •••• •••• INTRODUCTION TO THE MEDICAL •••• ••• ••• EXAMINER'S OFFICE •• • Established in 1977 • Governed by the Texas Code of Criminal Procedures (Chapter 49) • Moved to current facility in 1996 / 3 doctors • Currently serves 42 outside counties by authority of the Texas Government Code (Chapter 791) • Departments include pathology, forensic toxicology laboratory, investigations, forensic autopsy techs and administration 3

••• •••• •••• • •• • ••• • • 1 • • WHY BUILD A NEW FACILITY? •• • Existing facility is operating at its limit and cannot support additional growth. • Continued population growth is projected to occur in Travis County and the TCMEO service area. • Failure to address population growth will impact and possibly compromise National Association of Medical Examiner (N.A.M.E.) accreditation the TCMEO has achieved. 4

••• •••• ••••• •••• •••• ••• WHY BUILD CONT'D • • Infrastructure is at capacity for supporting instrumentation in both the autopsy area and the Forensic Toxicology Laboratory. • Lack of space in processing and autopsy areas creates a need for inefficient "work around" measures. • Lack of file and supply storage. 5

••• ••• • CONSULTANT REPORT I FOUR ••••• •••• •••• ••• SERVICE SCENARIOS? •• • Maintain service to the same set of client counties - $27.1 M • Provide service to Travis County only - $20.8 M • Provide service to Travis County and CAPCOG counties - $24.0 M • Provide service to current set of counties, less Williamson County - $24.9 M (This report was completed in November of 2011. Another review of the financial estimates would need to be developed since time has elapsed since the report was done.) 6

••• •••• •••• • • •• •• •• •• FINANCIAL MODEL OPTIONS fD • Increase the autopsy fee each year to gradually cover construction costs of the new facility. • Establish a building surcharge fee in addition to other fees charged for services. • Joint venture with other counties in funding the construction of a new facility. • Other? 7

••• •••• ••••• •••• ••• •• NEXT STEPS •• • Update cost estimates in consultant report. • Decide on a financial model to be used. • Determine who participates. • Develop agreements with partnering counties and customer counties. • Complete land selection process. • Acquire funding for design work. • Begin design work. 8

••• ••• • WILLIAMSON COUNTY FUTURE ••••• ••• ••• ••• PLANNING ee • Our largest customer of all 42 counties. • Population will increase. • A regional planning partner currently with CAPCOG and two-way radio communications. • A medical school will be in both counties. • Currently have enough service demand for one doctor. • Together we can build a more efficient facility. 9

••• •••• OPEN DISCUSSION I CLOSING •••• ••• •• •• ••• COMMENTS •• • Are Williamson County and Travis County interested in working together in constructing a regional facility? • Are there other options or paths that have not been considered? • What next steps need to be put into place to move this process along? 10