This month the LBJ Hospital was finally able to secure a resting place for a corpse which was at the hospital morgue for 28 months.
According to LBJ CEO Faumuina John Faumuina the body which was brought into the morgue on January 13 , 2016 was an off island person without a next of kin here or off island that the LBJ could locate.
This was the longest time that a body has been kept at the LBJ morgue.
Faumuina said, “We thank the governor for granting us space at the Satala cemetery for burial of this unknown deceased.”
At present the morgue which has a freezer capacity for 6 bodies, is holding 23 corpses.
Faumuina explains that aside from awaiting funeral arrangements, bodies are kept in the morgue if a death is under investigation by police, the deceased is from off island and the hospital is awaiting directions for funeral arrangements or there is just no one claiming the body.
Once the freezer capacity is full, bodies are embalmed and placed in caskets provided uy families and kept in the waiting area of the morgue.
When the waiting area is full, the overflow caskets are placed in the working area where embalming is conducted.
The CEO said, “We like to keep the work area free but when the waiting area is full then we use the work area.”
The highest numbr of bodies kept in the morgue at any one time is 35.
Asked if the hospital expects families to take care of morgue charges first before releasing the bodies of loved ones, Faumuina said the LBJ doesn’t do any such thing.
He commented, “We work with families on a case by case basis to recover any outstanding hospital bills.”
The LBJ morgue charges the same fee for residents and non residents: $10 per day for the first seven days then its $20 per day after that.
For embalming, its $300 for adults and $150 for babies to 11 years.
