Wecht to move autopsy practice to Westmoreland County
Renowned pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht will move his private autopsy practice to Westmoreland County's forensic center in Hempfield next month under a plan the commissioners are expected to approve on Thursday.
Since 2002 Wecht has performed autopsies from offices at Carlow College in Pittsburgh, but the school opted to use that space for other purposes, leaving the pathologist to find another location to examine bodies for coroners in Westmoreland, Armstrong, Fayette and Greene counties.
“We're delighted. It's a wonderful facility,” Wecht said of the autopsy room in Westmoreland's two-story forensic center, built three years ago within the shell of a long shuttered waste-to-energy plant. The facility is located in a complex that houses the county jail, juvenile detention center and nursing home.
If commissioners approve the plan, Wecht will pay $2,500 in monthly rent for the facility, infusing $30,000 annually into the county's budget.
The move of Wecht's business to Westmoreland will be the first time in a half-century that autopsies will be performed at the coroner's office. Wecht has performed autopsies for the county since 1968.
Cyril H. Wecht Pathology and Associates last year performed 250 autopsies for Westmoreland and an additional 300 autopsies for coroners in the three neighboring counties.
Westmoreland paid Wecht about $400,000 last year for those autopsies, and the pathologist will continue to receive $1,600 for every body he examines. He was paid a separate fee to testify in court on behalf of District Attorney John Peck.
Coroner Ken Bacha said the move to Westmoreland will save taxpayers more than $100,000 in transportation costs to transport bodies to and from Wecht's former offices in Pittsburgh.
In 2014 the county paid $1.4 million to convert the former industrial building to an 18,000-square-foot forensic center housing the coroner's office, morgue, county detectives office and space to store records.
Bacha secured an $180,000 state grant that was used to build the autopsy suite in the new center in the event that he or a future coroner decide to conduct those investigations rather than hire an outside firm such as Wecht's.
“We were using the autopsy room for everything short of autopsies, such as for fingerprinting and photographs,” Bacha said.
Bacha said there are no plans for the coroner's office to perform autopsies, but Wecht's move into the facility could serve as forerunner to any future effort to create a regional pathology program to serve multiple counties.
“As of right now, our marriage is with Dr. Wecht,” Bacha said.
Wecht, 86, lives in Pittsburgh. He is the former coroner and medical examiner in Allegheny County, and for decades has appeared on network and cable television to discuss high-profile murder cases and death investigations.
Wecht said he, an autopsy technician and another pathologist hired to begin work this summer will drive to the Westmoreland facility when needed.
Wecht said he will begin performing autopsies there in June.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
