'This is crazy': Coroner Pam Gay left the dark as vis-related aths crease

Contents:

• 'THIS IS CRAZY': CORONER PAM GAY LEFT THE DARK AS VIS-RELATED ATHS CREASE
• I AM AN AMERIN: PAM GAY FIGHTS HERO EPIMIC
• PAM GAY

'THIS IS CRAZY': CORONER PAM GAY LEFT THE DARK AS VIS-RELATED ATHS CREASE

Coroner Pam Gay 50-1. Pam Gay was sworn to office January 2014. Coroner Pam Gay has waed years for the day when York County would have s own mue — a place where grievg fai have the time and privacy to absorb bad news, to make necsary cisns about the ceased and to fd solace a quiet space.

Bee as Gay strsed durg an open hoe at the new facily on Friday morng, mu aren't simply waystatns for the their bt, mu are for fai of the ad too, the roner said, addg that York County's new $2 ln mue is "an vtment the livg for years to e.

I AM AN AMERIN: PAM GAY FIGHTS HERO EPIMIC

It opens Monday for bs, although the roner and her staff have been workg there for many months, cludg durg nstctn that started October, Gay ma oler room n currently acmodate 30 to 32 rps, acrdg to the mue's eezer n hold three bodi, Gay said, and is need for long-term storage and for when bodi are stat of advanced former roner's office the neighborg Pleasant Acr plex was ty and didn't even have s own bathroom.

The office relied on York Hospal's mue to hold the recently ceased, Gay has said, but fdg a place at a lol crematorium or funeral home for posg bodi was always a scramble and an extra st for mue has lockers, showers, bathroom facili, a washer and dryer for sheets and for clothg soiled the field, and seven offic for admistrative personnel, puty roners and the roner, as well as an evince room for personal property belongg to the ad. "We ma e of every nook and cranny, " Gay said. "There's also a large sally port wh a secure garage door, an dtrial weighg sle and a lift that n handle up to 1, 000 pounds, Gay staff: In addn to the elected Gay, the York County Coroner's Office employs four full-time puty roners, two office-support staff members and seven part-time puty roners, acrdg to Tania Zech, Gay's chief puty are volunteers as well, who are tasked wh matag ntact wh fai of the ad and makg sure they have the support and servic they need, Gay said — relatnships that sometim last for roner said her ultimate goal is for the mue to employ, or at least ntract wh, a forensic pathologist and diener who n nduct topsi on se.

Print York County Commissner Julie Wheeler summed up Gay's approach to creatg a mue three words: passn, perseverance and diligence. Wheeler thanked Gay "for not givg up. A large wdow the room offers a view of the mue's large examatn area and will allow people to see their ad loved on prr to the bodi beg sent to funeral hom or crematoriums, Gay said.

PAM GAY

"No one should have to view pictur of their ad loved on on a puter, " Ln said, addg she and her fay are exced about the fact that York County's new mue will not only end that practice, but also allow roner staff to offer the kd of fort and support that Gay has put a premium on as roner. As aths related to the ronavis  York County crease, Coroner Pam Gay has bee creasgly trated by a lack of transparency om state health tratn was pound Friday morng, when WellSpan Health spokman Ryan Coyle nfirmed to The York Dispatch that the unty's third ath, reported by state health officials the day prr, took place at York the pany's rporate branch relayed to Gay jt mut earlier that the ath toll at WellSpan remaed at zero.

"Later Friday, Coyle changed the hospal's characterizatn of the ath, stead assertg was a "spected" ronavis-related ath wh pendg tt rults —explag why Gay hadn't been County has 33 new COVID-19 s, state total nears 20kMore:Pa. Schools to rema closed for the rt of the amic yearGay said she has ma transparency a prry durg her tenure as the elected official rponsible for vtigatg spic or untend aths York like other roners the state, she's h a roadblock durg the novel ronavis panmic, wh different terpretatns of state law leavg her out of the loop regardg tails about vis-related state Department of Health has emed vis-related aths, like those om all fect diseas, to be natural aths. Therefore, unr state law, those aths need not be referred to that directly ntradicts statut erng what roners need to vtigate, Gay that state statute, roners need to vtigate aths "known or spected to be due to ntag disease and nstutg a public hazard.