For Immediate Release:
September 27, 2018

New Medical Examiner Partnership and Residency Program Underway in Bergen County

(Hackensack) – Today, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco and leaders from the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School announced that the medical school has assumed operation of the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office, commencing an innovative new partnership announced earlier this year. The first of its kind in New Jersey, this relationship allows the Medical Examiner’s Office to continue providing top-notch forensic science, while giving students on-site instruction through Rutgers’ pathology residency program. The first resident will begin rotation at the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office on October 1, 2018.

“This is an exciting new partnership, the first of its kind in the state, to ensure Bergen County continues to lead the state in the quality of our Medical Examiner’s office and forensic services,” said Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco. “At the same time, this is a tremendous opportunity for Rutgers New Jersey Medical School’s forensic pathology program, to give their students the opportunity to have hands-on experience here in Bergen County, as we train the next generation of medical examiners.”

Dr. Chen Liu, chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, said, “This partnership will bring the clinical and academic strengths of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School’s Pathology department to the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office. We will deliver the highest level of quality service to Bergen County’s residents, as we build an office that will soon be accredited by the National Association of Medical Examiners – a first for a county medical examiner’s office in New Jersey. We will also be bringing our residency programs, accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, to the County – with our first resident rotating through the office in the coming weeks. The office will not only serve as resource for the county, its residents and law enforcement, but it will also now be an important site for enhanced forensic pathology education, training and research for the University. This collaboration would have been impossible without the vision, leadership and co-operation of the County Freeholders, County Executive, Jim Tedesco and the County Counsel and Administrator, Julien Neals.”

“A partnership between a county and a medical school is a first for New Jersey, and is an example of the kind of creativity that keeps Bergen County a step ahead when it comes to finding new ways to make government function better and more efficiently for our residents,” said Freeholder Chairman Tom Sullivan. “I thank the County Executive and his administration for having the vision to put this deal in place.”