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Jail doc can be coroner in some situations

WARREN — If the doctor contracted to provide medical services to inmates at the Trumbull County Jail is appointed coroner today, the county must have an alternative in place to handle any unusual deaths at the facility, according to an opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Members of the Trumbull County Democratic Party’s central committee are scheduled to meet 5 p.m. today at Enzo’s Banquet Center in Warren to select a replacement to serve the rest of Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk’s term, which runs through 2020. Germaniuk died in April.

The members are picking between Dr. Thomas James, an internal medicine physician and the man selected by Germaniuk to serve as deputy coroner when he became hospitalized in January, and Dr. Phillip Malvasi, the administrator of the county’s inmate medical program and a family medicine physician.

Malvasi receives $304,125 for his services and the other medical professionals he hires to assist him. His contract has been extended on a month-to-month basis since January 2012.

As coroner and jail doctor, Malvasi couldn’t oversee inmate deaths at the jail and would not be allowed to delegate the authority to someone else himself, according to the opinion.

“If the coroner were also to provide medical services to the county jail, he would be in the position of reporting the death, including providing information required by the statute, and then making an assessment, as coroner, as to whether the situation merited additional investigation or autopsy,” the opinion states.

Jeff Goodman, parliamentarian for the party, said “Jail deaths would be a potential source of conflict; however, potential conflicts exist in virtually every elected office.”

If Malvasi were to meet the other requirements and exceptions to holding both positions, the county could bring in an independent coroner, like some court proceedings require an independent prosecutor when the county prosecutor’s office has a conflict on a case, according to the document.

“Laws and procedures are in place to avoid conflicts of interest. There is no reason to believe the coroner is an exception. Indeed, as long as Ohio law permits part-time coroner positions, conflicts of interest are going to be inherent in the job, analogous to how we deal with part-time judges,” Goodman said.

The ethics commission received Malvasi’s request for an opinion on the matter Monday and issued their opinion to him Wednesday.

The other element to the law states a public official — the coroner in this case — can’t have an interest in a contract with a public entity — a contract to provide medical services to the county jail in this case.

In order to grant an exception to the law, Malvasi would need to prove the contract is the best option or the only alternative, the opinion states. The burden is on Malvasi to prove he meets four criteria to be granted an exception to the ethics laws.

First, the services Malvasi provides to the county have to be necessary.

Second, the service Malvasi provides at the jail must be done under a contract that existed, unchanged, before he is appointed coroner. Month-to-month extensions are allowed, as long as it is a provision of the original contract, according to the opinion. If appointed today, Malvasi would not be able to enter any new contracts with the county to provide medical services to inmates, according to the opinion.

If Malvasi is appointed, and the county wanted to consider awarding him a new contract for jail services, the commissioners would have to seek bids by “openly and widely” advertising the contract first. The bids would have to show no other physician can provide the county the same services at the same or lower cost, according to the opinion.

Last week, commissioners entertained a new contract for Malvasi that would have paid out $372,204 per year for three years, which includes his salary and the expenses of those he hires to provide services to the jail. But commissioners chose to drop the contract from consideration at their May 16 meeting.

Messages left for Malvasi on Wednesday were not immediately returned. Malvasi also would need to show the services he provides are of good quality, ensure county commissioners and the prosecutor’s office are aware of his dual engagements and sit out of discussions about his contract with the jail.

Neither James nor Malvasi has a forensic pathologist license, which means neither can perform autopsies, as Germaniuk could. Because they have private practices, either would be considered a part-time coroner.

Ohio Revised Code sets the salary for a part-time coroner at $69,739 per year for a county this size. Germaniuk was earning $127,563 as coroner and forensic pathologist.

Without a forensic pathologist on staff, the county coroner’s office has been sending the deceased who need autopsies to the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office at a cost of $1,275, plus between $250 and $275 for transportation.

Malvasi lost a bid to serve as Trumbull County coroner to Dr. Theodore Soboslay in 2004. Germaniuk took over after Soboslay retired.

rfox@tribtoday.com

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