Since 2021, Mission Hospital has released at least 111 bodies to funeral homes before a legally required medical examiner’s review, according to a list of issues related to the hospital’s handling of deaths compiled by Buncombe County medical examiners and obtained by Asheville Watchdog.
The list includes people who died of gunshot wounds, drug overdoses, choking and falling bricks. Some of the bodies had to be returned to the hospital from funeral homes as far away as Georgia. Some were already buried.
Buncombe medical examiners shared their list of morgue concerns with Mission executives and the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) as far back as January 2021, according to emails obtained by The Watchdog. In July that year, North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Michelle Aurelius wrote Mission a letter that flagged concerns about unreported bodies, cited state law, and offered training for hospital staff. It is unclear whether the letter was sent…