CHIEF FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST APPOINTED FOR SASKATCHEWAN

Saskatchewan now has a Chief Forensic Pathologist.

Dr. Shaun Ladham will oversee forensic services in the Office of the Chief Coroner. He will work with the more than 150 coroners located across the province to clarify the facts surrounding sudden, unexpected and unnatural deaths.

Dr. Ladham is the province's first-ever Chief Forensic Pathologist and is based at Saskatoon City Hospital. Dr. Ladham received his medical training at Dalhousie University in Halifax and his postgraduate training in anatomic pathology at McGill University in Montreal. Most recently, he worked at the Allegheny County Coroners Office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"Dr. Ladham is highly qualified for this position, which is very important to the safety and well-being of the people of Saskatchewan," Justice Minister Frank Quennell said. "The addition of the Chief Forensic Pathologist position is one part of a three-year plan to significantly develop the Coroner's Program in our province."

Over the next three years, the Coroner's Program will be expanded, with the recruitment of a Deputy Chief Coroner and a forensic pathologist in Regina, as well as the establishment of regional coroner offices in Saskatoon and Regina.

"The Coroner's Program provides valuable support and expertise to the administration of justice in our province," Quennell said. "It is critical that the program is up-to-date and fully resourced in order to adequately perform this important role."

The growth and development of the Coroner's Program is a result of one of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild, which called for a review of the Coroners Act.

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For More Information, Contact:

Andrew Dinsmore Justice Regina Phone: (306) 787-8606