SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM ❚ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 ❚ 3B
Funeral
homes
Continued from Page 1A
funeral homes fare on in-
spections.
The board’s website
says: “With the exception
of egregious or continu-
ing violations, deficien-
cies noted during routine
inspections rarely lead to
formal disciplinary ac-
tion.”
State regulators
short-handed
The sun sets over City View Cemetery. KELLY JORDAN / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Chad Dresselhaus, ex-
ecutive director of the
state agency, acknowl-
edged Oregon’s the in-
spection rate is low.
When fully staffed, it
will have seven state em-
ployees including two in-
spectors. But for several
months in late 2018 and
early 2019, the agency did
not have an inspector.
An inspector resigned
in September 2018 and
the agency was unable to
hire a replacement until
recently,
Dresselhaus
said.
A second inspector po-
sition was approved by
the 2019 Legislature for
the board’s biennial bud-
get. With two inspectors,
he expects Oregon’s in-
spection rate to climb.
“We are hopeful that
we will be able to satisfy
the statutory require-
ment of inspecting all li-
censed facilities within a
two-year period,” Dres-
selhaus said.
The inspections are
supposed to encompass
looking at the premises
and records of funeral
homes,
crematoriums
and cemeteries.
Another reason the
agency’s inspection rate
is low is due to a “fairly
high profile situation” in-
volving revoking the li-
cense of Eternal Hills fu-
neral home and cemetery
in Klamath Falls, said
Dresselhaus, who de-
clined being interviewed
and answered questions
in writing.
Regulators also spent
time fielding questions
from consumers and
creditors because the
cemetery
is
going
through an involuntary
bankruptcy, Dresselhaus
said.
In addition to revoking
the licenses of Eternal
Hills, the funeral home
and cemetery were fined
more than $100,000 in
2017 for a series of viola-
tions.
Complaints from
small to large
Mortuaries,
crema-
tories and cemeteries can
face sanctions ranging
from reprimands to fines
to losing their license, de-
pending on the severity
of the offense.
Some violations —
cremating a person with-
out the proper authoriza-
tion and mixing up cre-
mated remains — did
show up in a Statesman
Journal review of two
years’ worth of board ac-
tions from 2017 to 2019
against funeral home and
crematory operators.
In one case, the board
reprimanded Canby Fu-
neral Chapel after allow-
ing a friend of an individ-
ual to arrange their cre-
mation.
The funeral home had
tried to contact a surviv-
ing family member. When
not successful, they did
not try to locate another
contact and allowed an
unauthorized person to
sign the form allowing
cremation, records show.
The dead person’s
daughter found out about
her mother’s death 10
days after the cremation.
In another case, Cas-
cade Cremation Center in
Tualatin was reprimand-
ed after switching the
cremains of two people in
2016 due to a labeling er-
ror. Records show the
company voluntarily dis-
closed the mistake to the
board.
Managers for Canby
Funeral Home and Cas-
cade Cremation Center
could not be reached for
comment.
A variety of violations
were found during a 2013
inspection at Eternal
Hills in Klamath Falls in-
cluding unsanitary con-
ditions, shoddy record-
keeping and misleading
business practices. In a
2016 summary of viola-
tions at Eternal Hills that
went back for years, in-
spectors noted that bod-
ies were embalmed with-
out proper authorization
and the operator could
not provide required pa-
perwork when state regu-
lators requested it. An in-
spector also discovered
cremated remains, in-
cluding bone fragments,
in a vacuum cleaner.
Consumer advice
The state board has a
12-page checklist for in-
spections. It includes
whether advertising is
accurate, if pricing is
clear and available, the
effectiveness of refrigera-
tion
equipment
and
whether remains are
properly identified.
Although consumers
can’t view the inspection
reports, they can request
from the state mortuary
board a list of funeral
homes and professionals
that have faced disciplin-
ary action dating back to
2007. The list, however,
doesn’t provide details on
what the board alleged
the funeral home did.
The information is not
currently online because
the mortuary board is up-
dating its website. But
you can submit a public
records request and get a
copy of the disciplinary
document free of charge
because the information
usually is available on-
line.
Consumers also can
look up a facility or indi-
vidual practitioner by
name or city and make
sure they are licensed.
And consumers may
find
information
by
searching the Justice De-
partment’s
consumer
complaint database to
see if complaints have
been filed. Keep in mind,
however, that those com-
plaints may be referred to
the mortuary board, or be
resolved in favor of the
funeral home.
Mike Nicodemus, vice
president of cremation
services for the National
Funeral
Directors
Association, said there
are pitfalls to avoid, and
things to look out for
when selecting a funeral
home.
Because rules for mor-
tuaries and crematories
vary from state to state,
Nicodemus said he en-
courages owners to be
proactive and do their
own checks instead of
waiting for state inspec-
tors to show up.
Thirty-seven states re-
quire crematory inspec-
tions while 13 have no in-
spections.
“I always tell as many
crematory and funeral
homeowners that are lis-
tening. ‘Don’t leave in-
spections up to the
state,’” said Nicodemus, a
funeral home director in
Salem. “You do them on
your own. You be your
own consumer advocate.
You go in as the owner.
Check the paperwork.”
Openness is crucial
when working with cli-
ents, he said. Operators
of a well-run facility will
be comfortable showing
people around.
A funeral home that
isn’t upfront about its
practices, services and
prices may be one to
avoid, Nicodemus said.
A Federal Trade Com-
mission rule requires fu-
neral providers to show
clients a price list identi-
fying all the goods and
services offered and their
costs.
“I tell them ... answer
all questions openly and
honestly,’
Nicodemus
said. “Show them your fa-
cility. Show them how
you do things.”
Funeral director’s
perspective
Miles Johnson, owner
and director of Johnson
Funeral Home in Salem,
said he focuses on flexi-
ble pricing options for
families. This includes
listing all options so peo-
ple can pick and choose
what they need for a fu-
neral service.
Elsewhere in the in-
dustry, Johnson said it’s
common to offer a pack-
age of services. He said a
package approach can be
helpful for some consum-
ers, but it’s not for every-
body because some peo-
ple may end up paying for
items they don’t need.
Johnson
originally
trained for a career in
construction. But after
realizing he wanted to fo-
cus on serving people, he
went back to school and
became a funeral home
owner and director, open-
ing the Salem business
with his wife in 2015.
“It’s my dream job,” he
said. “I love serving peo-
ple in their darkest time
and helping them navi-
gate treacherous waters.”
Funeral homes differ
on how much they
charge. Some homes are
more high-end than oth-
ers. But as long as the
prices are transparent for
consumers, that’s fine,
Johnson said.
He encourages people
to check with several
places before making a fi-
nal decision.
“Call around and don’t
go on price alone,” John-
son said. “Get a feel for
the person you’re going to
be dealing with.”
He also recommends
dealing directly with a fu-
neral home rather than
using online brokers sell-
ing funeral services that
act as a middleman.
Families also can save
money and stress with
pre-planning, which in-
volves paying in advance
to lock in the price and
putting wishes in writing.
This can help families
avoid being taken advan-
tage of while grieving,
Johnson said.
As for state inspectors,
Johnson’s funeral home
hasn’t had a visit yet.
During the licensing
process, he sent the
agency photographs and
had a teleconference with
mortuary board staff be-
fore opening. But he
didn’t have an in-person
visit.
“It’s not a knock
against them,” he said.
“They’re busy. If they
called me today and said
they wanted to see me, I’d
say I can’t wait.”
Ben Botkin covers Ore-
gon state government.
You can reach him at
bbotkin@Statesman-
Journal.com, 503-399-
6687 or follow him on
Twitter @BenBotkin1
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