Wayne State University and Wayne County have finalized an agreement to partner in the operation of the county’s Office of the Medical Examiner for a five-year period, which was unanimously approved today by the Wayne County Commission.

The agreement anticipates transfer of the oversight of the office from the University of Michigan to Wayne State on Oct. 1, subject to the terms of a mutually agreeable operating agreement.

“This is good news for Wayne County,” said Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans. “Wayne State University has a great reputation, but equally as important is that this is an institution with longstanding ties to our community. They care about the people they serve in Wayne County because to them this is personal, and that’s so important for a relationship like this to work.”

“The university, through its School of Medicine and other health sciences programs, will provide state-of-the-art forensics services, public health research and education,” said Wael Sakr, dean of the Wayne State University School of Medicine and former chair of the Department of Pathology. “As part of the agreement, Wayne State commits to launching an aggressive program of retention and recruitment of forensic pathologists and associated professionals, and to initiate planning for a forensic pathology fellowship program. We look forward to providing this critical service to the residents of Wayne County.”

Officials said the agreement will fulfill the mission of the Office of the Medical Examiner within “a dignified, compassionate, respectful culture and environment;” establish a robust educational pipeline for medical examiner workforce development; improve the public health of Wayne County; and leverage WSU programming in community engagement.