The government of Newfoundland and Labrador made a legislation change four months ago meant to tackle the growing number of unclaimed bodies being held in freezer units at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s — but it has yet to bury a single person.
According to the amended legislation, which was filed on Dec. 24 and came into effect on Jan. 1, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services (NLHS) has the power to bury unclaimed remains after two weeks of searching for next of kin and then five days after the identity of the person is posted online on a dedicated website.
The website also has yet to launch.
Health authority spokesperson Mikaela Etchegary told CBC News in an email that work is still ongoing on the legislation and the website.
“N.L. Health Services handles unclaimed human remains respectfully and will take steps to identify and contact individuals who may be entitled to claim the remains, prior to posting information to the web page,” she wrote.
Etchegary said the number of remains still long-term storage facilities changes frequently, but as of May 14 there were 27 bodies.
“To date, no burials for unclaimed remains have been completed by N.L. Health Services as we finalize operationalizing the legislation,” she wrote.
CBC News first reported the health authority was storing 28 bodies in freezer units in an alleyway on hospital property more than a year ago. It was due to a lack of space in the morgue, which doubles as the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Over the summer, NLHS relocated the freezers to the hospital’s underground parking garage and built a wall around it.
Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell, who took over the portfolio last week, says there is a procedure in place for the health authority to deal with unclaimed bodies.
“We do expect that they are following that to the letter on how they conduct the operations around these unclaimed remains. So they have a more clear pathway as to how they handle this,” Howell told reporters on Thursday.
But even with the website not up and running, she wouldn’t say whether the legislation was working.
“That would be our expectation of NLHS and certainly we’ll have further conversations about that with the CEO and ensuring that we do the most appropriate measures to, with dignity, handle any unclaimed remains,” Howell said.
Progressive Conservative MHA and health critic Barry Petten says it’s alarming that dozens of bodies are still in storage and that it reflects poorly on the province.
“The province brought in this legislation, they were going to come up with processes,” he said.
“We’re finding out there’s still bodies in these coolers. It’s just not satisfactory.”
Petten says no matter how someone lived or died, people deserve a dignified burial.
Given the legislation hasn’t been operational after months, Petten says he questions the government’s willingness to act on the problem.
“I don’t think that’s a satisfactory answer.”
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