Last Calgary medical examiner leaves office

Alberta Justice has confirmed the last remaining medical examiner in the Calgary office has handed in his resignation.

This comes two days after another forensic pathologist resigned.

Justice spokesman David Dear said the second notice came in Friday morning. He said both medical examiners will leave sometime later this year and the details of their departures are still being worked out.

He wouldn't speculate on the reasons for the departures, but said working conditions are a challenge.

"At least one of the forensic pathologists has confirmed what I think is recognized certainly in the department, that forensic pathologists in the province both in Calgary and Edmonton do carry a heavy workload," said Dear.

"It's a challenging workload and it's a demanding job."

Dear said Alberta Justice is working on whether there's something they can do organizationally to minimize the taxing workload.

Prosecutor reviews work

In January, Dr. Michael Belenky left the Calgary office.

Alberta Justice then announced that it wasreviewing the files Belenky handled.

Errors were found in one of his autopsy reports after he stepped down from his post.

A special prosecutor will go over all expert findings in death investigations prepared by Belenky since he was hired in 2008.

Court delays expected

Dear said doctors Sam Andrews and Evan Matshes will leave sometime this year.

Until replacements are found, the workload will be redistributed with the help of the four pathologists in Edmonton. Dear said this would likely result in delays to cases that are before the courts.

The Calgary medical examiner's office handled nearly 1,500 cases in 2010.

Calgary police spokesman Kevin Brookwell said that while the department works closely with the medical examiner's office as part of their investigations, they're not too concerned with the recent string of resignations.

"There are a number of medical examiners in the province of Alberta and we've very confident that Alberta Justice will be able to move those medical examiners around as required," said Brookwell.

"We accept that these are very skilled individuals. It's a very unique specialty or focus being a medical examiner, so those folks are in high demand."