Gross Exaggeration – “Arapahoe County is fairly compensated” when the incumbent conducts an autopsy for other counties.
The incumbent never tells people precisely how Arapahoe County is “fairly compensated”.
If you didn’t know better, you would think that Arapahoe County got most of the money for those autopsies, which are conducted in the facilities of the County.
Truth – The incumbent personally pockets $1,850 for each autopsy he does for other counties, and pays to the County only $125 to use the facilities.
Douglas County has paid (earlier this year) to the incumbent $1,850 per autopsy. That payment is reflected in a listing of paid invoices. To view that invoice, click [here].
The incumbent told Mike Prendergast, a reporter for Westword, that he and the other doctor in the Coroner’s office do about 100 autopsies for other counties per year.
He also told Mr. Prendergast that they do “some work for other counties, at around $1,500 an autopsy, as well as "private" autopsies at the request of families, which can cost as much as $3,000.”
If we just ignore the obvious disconnect between what Douglas County says it paid the incumbent, and what he says he was paid, and then multiply the number of autopsies for other counties, we can do the math. $1,500 X 100 = $150,000. That money goes into the incumbent’s pocket (or the pocket of the other doctor in the Coroner’s office). That’s no small amount.
There is a document that demonstrates that Arapahoe County actually does get some money for outside autopsies… but it is very little money.
The incumbent admits that Arapahoe County only is paid $125 per autopsy, an amount paid by the incumbent from his take.
Let’s do some more math. $125 X 100 = $1,250.
If we compare the take of the incumbent and the other doctor in the Coroner’s office with the amount that the County is paid by those doctors to use the County facilities, we see that the doctors get 99.2% of the money, and the County gets a whopping eight tenths of one percent of the income from that business.
If we use the numbers that are actually being paid to the incumbent (from the invoice showing $1,850 paid for autopsy), then these percentages swing toward the favor of the incumbent even further.
Then we can add-in a number of private autopsies per year at a whopping $3,000 each, and the percentage that the County gets diminishes even closer to zero.
But that is not all.
When bodies are transferred from hospitals to the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office by Arapahoe County personnel, these personnel are on the County payroll, and are not paid by either of the doctors in the Coroner’s office. That transport is not free, except for the doctors. There is the time taken by the employee, the fuel used, the wear and tear on the vehicle, and such.
Does $125 per case even fully reimburse Arapahoe County for these expenses?
QUESTION:
Is Arapahoe County “fairly compensated” when the incumbent only pays 0.008% of the income from his personal business as that compensation?
Do you know of any personal business that has an overhead that low?
QUESTION:
Is it right for the incumbent to use Arapahoe County employees and vehicles for free to transport bodies to the County Coroner’s Office at no charge, so that he can earn $1,500 to $1,800 per autopsy and put that in his own pocket?
QUESTION:
Was the Arapahoe County official correct when describing the Coroner’s Office as “the incumbent’s personal money machine.?
