The Office of Decedent Affairs

Your loved one has been brought to The Medical Examiner’s Office which is located here at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The Medical Examiner’s Office is part of the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s System. Please understand that the nursing staff and emergency room personnel may not have any knowledge of deaths that have been reported directly to the Medical Examiner.

The Medical Examiner’s Office is operational Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Questions concerning your loved one can be answered during those hours by calling 336-716-2634.

Your loved one will undergo a Medical Examiner autopsy at the discretion of the Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner is an officer of the State of North Carolina. His or her primary purpose is to detect, analyze, and document the medical aspects of certain types of death so that those deaths can be better understood.

There are certain cases that fall under Medical Examiner jurisdiction. The most common causes are:

• Homicide
• Suicide
• Trauma
• Unknown, unnatural or suspicious circumstances
• Poisoning or suspicion of poisoning
• Sudden, unexpected deaths that are not related to a previously known disease
• Deaths without medical attendance

Each death is different. The Medical Examiner has the legal authority to perform an autopsy. If a death falls under Medical Examiner jurisdiction, the Medical Examiner does not need family permission to perform the autopsy.

Upon completion of the autopsy, your loved one will be released to the funeral home of your choice.

Personal belongings that arrived with your loved one will be sent to the funeral home with your loved one unless law enforcement has held them for evidence. We will let your funeral director know if that is the case.

You can contact the Medical Examiner’s Office Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with questions or concerns at 336-716-2634.

While your loved one is at the medical center for a Medical Examiner Autopsy, you will not have access to view them. Viewing can be set up with the funeral home or cremation service of your choice.

Your loved one’s identity has already been confirmed by law enforcement. Questions or concerns related to the circumstances or aspects of the location of your loved one’s death need to be addressed to the law enforcement agency in charge of the scene investigation.

Once you have made funeral arrangements, please call the autopsy department at 336-716-2634 or 336-716-2681 to give consent for the release of your loved one to the chosen funeral home. The Autopsy Department must have consent from the family before releasing your loved one to the funeral home.

Medical Examiner autopsy reports are obtained from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh, NC. Although your loved one’s autopsy was performed here at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the autopsy report will come from that office. You cannot obtain an autopsy report from the Medical Examiner’s office here at the medical center. You may contact the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to obtain a copy 800-672-7024 or by visiting North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Release of medicolegal (Medical Examiner) autopsy reports is dependent on a number of factors:

1. The complexity of the case that may require specialized outside consultants
2. The complexity of toxicological analysis, which is performed at the NC Office of the State Toxicology Laboratory at the Office of the Chief Examiner (OCME) in Raleigh, NC
3. The complexity of law enforcement investigations
4. Time for review of autopsy reports by the forensic pathologists at OCME after finalization of reports from Wake Forest Baptist Health (all ME autopsy reports from WFBMC are reviewed by the forensic pathologists at OCME), which is dependent on OCME's workload and staffing

Hospital Autopsy Reports (non-Medical Examiner Autopsy) can be obtained from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center medical records by calling 336-716-3229. In general, hospital reports will be finalized in 60 days. Exceptions may include outside specialized consultation or need for specialized stains or extraneous testing that may take an extended time.