Plans underway for combined Johnson County health department, coroner’s office

As Johnson County grows, its public services need to keep up with it.

County officials are grappling with many departments outgrowing their current spaces. The county health department and coroner’s office are two departments long in need of their own buildings. That need could soon be answered, as plans for new county building have been drawn up.

Officials this summer commissioned designs for a new health department and coroner’s office combined building on land at the corner of Drake Road and Hospital Road in Franklin.

These plans are a long-time coming, as the county has owned the 1.8 acre Drake Road property for several years, and could not decide what to do with it, said Kevin Walls, Johnson County commissioner.

It was once going to be dedicated for a new community corrections building, but those plans were scrapped because officials thought it could be too packed in that space, Walls said.

Plans for the property were revived earlier this year, where early discussions and designs included putting the health department, highway department and coroner’s office in one building. But the highway department plans were also scrapped because it would not fit, Walls said.

“There were just a lot of chess pieces moving around,” Walls said.

These current plans for the health and coroner’s office combined building are in a more solid place, Walls said. County officials recognize the need to give the two departments larger spaces to perform efficiently, he said.

The coroner’s office especially has not been as utilized or prioritized as it should be in recent years, Walls said. The office performs its services out of three different locations across the county, and it has been that way for years.

Right now, autopsies are conducted at Jessen and Keller Funeral Home in Whiteland and decedents — a person who has died — are stored at Johnson Memorial Hospital’s morgue in Franklin. The coroner’s current office is in a small space at the Johnson County Courthouse North Annex in downtown Franklin.

“It’s pretty small and pretty inefficient because you’re dealing with bereavement, you’re dealing with emotions, you’re dealing with a lot .. and there’s so many different factors that come into (the coroner’s) job,” Walls said.

Similarly, the health department has long outgrown the suite the county rents at 460 N. Morton St. in Franklin. File cabinets line the hallways, boxes are stacked on whatever counter space is available and employees share what little office spaces are available.

“It’s pretty chopped up and hard to maneuver through,” Walls said.

Current designs for the new building give each department adequate space for their needs, Walls said. The building will be split in half evenly between the two departments

For the coroner’s office, the space will have a morgue with the ability to store 10 decedents. Another upgrade is a private sallyport at the back of the building to pull in cars to privately transport decedents in and out of the office. There will also be two offices, a secure evidence room, a dedicated family meeting room and an autopsy suite, with a viewing window.

The health department’s office would almost double the current space. The current plans include eight employee offices, two exam rooms and plenty of storage rooms for vaccines, medical supplies and records.

The two departments also fit well together, Walls said. Many of their services are linked, such as death certificates, which the coroner signs off on and the health department stores.

Exact cost and financing for the project is still to be determined, Walls said. County officials earmarked around $6 million in funds from its pool of $31 million from the federal pandemic relief American Rescue Plan Act. However, Walls said they have not decided if they can and want to use all ARPA money, and the strings attached, to fund the entire project.

“They just don’t give you $32 million and say, go spend it however you want. They always have those strings attached to them, and that’s what makes it difficult,” Walls said.

Officials saw an opportunity with ARPA to get the project off the ground finally, and have a way to finance it. The Johnson County Council and Board of Commissioners have approved roughly $225,000 from ARPA to be spent on the current designs for the new building.

Walls expects the health department and coroner’s building to be finished by the first quarter of 2024, which he said is a hard deadline he plans to push.

The health department and coroner building is part of an overall master plan the county has to upgrade spaces for county services, Walls said. The Johnson County Jail expansion — now near completion — was part of a 20-year plan, and this project is part of the county’s 25-30 year plan as population continues to grow.

“The more people, the more we need to support our services … the coroner is running on so many runs, and the health department is seeing a lot more people,” Walls said.

To read more about the health department office space needs click here.

To read more about the coroner’s office space needs click here.