Joe Southern
The need for a medical examiner's office in Brazos County was first raised in 2014 and now it will become a reality as officials break ground in a ceremony on Tuesday.
Located on East 29th Street near Broadmoor Drive in Bryan, the 22,084-square-foot facility will cost $33.8 million, $18.5 million of which comes from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act. It is scheduled to be completed in March of 2026. The facility will have two autopsy coolers, a primary one that can hold 64 bodies and a smaller one that holds about 16.
"We've had a good many discussions with Texas A&M about how potentially they may want to participate," Brazos County Judge Duane Peters said. "That building is being built with an educational portion of it. In addition to just autopsies it will have enough room in it that they can do education for medical students from A&M."
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At Tuesday's regular session of commissioners court the commissioners unanimously finalized the construction contract. The principal architect is PGAL, working in conjunction with J.T. Vaughn Construction, and Broaddus & Associates third party project management.
Dr. Kathryn Pinneri, a forensic pathologist in Montgomery County, will provide forensic expertise and guidance for workspace efficiency. Peters said she helped oversee construction of the new medical examiner's office in Conroe.
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Currently, Brazos County contracts with Travis County for autopsies. Peters said that in addition to the expense of an autopsy that the county usually sends an investigator to observe in cases where law enforcement is involved.
"There's a cost savings of not sending out investigators to outside agencies," Peters said.
He also noted that once the office is operational it will create a potential revenue stream from neighboring counties that want to use the service.
Peters said there is money in the county budget to hire a forensic pathologist next year with the potential of that person becoming a certified medical examiner. He said the timing was right to build the facility and start the department as the county's population has reached the 250,000 mark and the funds became available through ARPA.
"It's kind of like insurance, you hope you never need it, but if you need it, you're glad you've got it," he said.
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