HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 07-01 Department of Health shuts down Maplewood mortuary MAPLEWOOD REVIEW2/16/2016 Department of Health shuts down Maplewood mortuary I Lillie Suburban Newspapers - LillieNews.com
Department of Health shuts
down Maplewood mortuary
Submitted by admin1 on Wed, 07/01/2015 - 12:OOam
By: Erin Hinrichs
Case raises questions about Hmong funeral practices
Last month, the Minnesota Department of Health shut down Maple Oaks -Phalen Park Funeral Home in Maplewood, alleging the
facility had decomposing bodies in the embalming room.
The owners, E. Peter Vasey and David Thorsell, maintain the bodies were in a state of severe dehydration — a condition that
should not have put their business in jeopardy.
"The Department of Health has destroyed their business and their reputation and taken an emotional toll on these gentlemen," their
lawyer, Michael Sharkey, told the Review. "There's a very big difference between a body that's decomposing and a body that has
extreme dehydration in its extremities."
The Department of Health issued a cease-and-desist order on May 15, citing the facility's failure to take corrective action following
two cleanliness and record -related fines issued after an initial inspection in March.
On June 1, administrative law judge Stephen Swanson recommended that the Commissioner of the Department of Health deny the
owners' request for a stay of the cease-and-desist order.
While the lawyers representing both parties continue talks this week, the fact that the bodies flagged by the inspector were being
prepared for a Hmong funeral added a new dynamic to the case.
'There can be a backup'
In his clients' defense, Sharkey explains Maple Oaks, 2585 E. Stillwater Road, was holding and preparing Hmong bodies for
another funeral home, during the time of the inspection. In accordance with traditional Hmong beliefs, he says, no more than one
body should be on the premises during a funeral.
"Because the mourning process can take days and sometimes even weeks, there can be a backup," he says. "Maple Oaks is trying
to help the Hmong community achieve their own mourning and grieving process in a respectful manner."
The bodies were being held for services at the Koob Moo Funeral Chapel in St. Paul — one of a handful of Hmong funeral homes
in the area.
While the bodies were, in fact, subject to a longer wait period in the prep room, Sharkey says, the funeral directors still took care to
preserve the bodies. Even when severe dehydration sets in, he says, the funeral directors use their restorative art and cosmetics
skills to prepare the body for viewing.
"None of these families complained at all," Sharkey says, adding Vasey and Thorsell have ethically and responsibly served their
community for more than 40 years.
"I'm hoping that the Minnesota Department of Health uses this as a chance to educate itself on ... certain aspects of traditional
Hmong culture and tradition," he says.
Asked whether cultural context could sway how the Department of Health assesses this situation, spokesman Michael Schommer
told the Review he could not discuss ongoing regulatory actions. However, he did note it's something that's on their radar.
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"Really, what it comes down to is [that] our goal in regulating facilities is to protect public health," he says. "Within the confines
of the law, we certainly do take cultural considerations into context."
Clearing the air
J. Kou Vang, owner of Legacy Funeral Home, has been operating a Hmong funeral chapel on Frost Avenue in Maplewood
for the past 10 years. He's been following the status of the Maple Oaks case in the news and has taken issue with the way in
which the Hmong community is being portrayed.
"I am a little bit appalled that their explanation of why those bodies are in such bad shape is because they're Hmong and the
families are waiting longer," he told the Review. "The connotation that it's something which has been accepted and it's OK—
that is absurdly wrong."
Vang currently operates three Hmong funeral chapels in the area. In his estimates, these chapels service close to 85 percent
of the local Hmong community. With services typically booked at Ieasttwo weeks out, he says all three facilities support
between 100 and 110 funerals a year.
While he acknowledges that there's often a two or three-week wait period from the time a person dies to the time of their
funeral service, he says that shouldn't alter professional expectations.
"All of our funerals are open casket," he says, noting his mortuary prepares bodies at on off-site facility. "We take great care in
making sure the bodies do not decompose. They are lotioned on a daily basis, so there is no drying of extremities."
He also says reports that Hmong funerals last up to seven days are outdated. In reality, he says, most begin Friday morning
and are over by noon the following Monday — a time frame that allows most friends and relatives to travel to the funeral
home.
"Hmong funerals are pretty elaborate," he explains, noting relatives of the deceased are busy providing food for visitors
around-the-clock.
Repaying debt via song
The ceremony, itself, Vang says, consists of an elaborate series of chants, prayers and flute songs that can last anywhere
from six to 19 hours, depending on the age of the deceased.
"We believe in reincarnation, so upon death the spirit of the deceased needs to be sent back to the land of the ancestors to
meet up with the grandparents and go through the cycle to be reincarnated again," Vang says.
Guiding the spirit back, family members retrace all the places the deceased has lived and repay their debts through song.
"We believe until that process is done, that spirit is still around," Vang says.
In order to ensure the family's chants and prayers make it safely to the correct spirit, Vang says, Hmong funeral homes only
carry one body on site at a time. If they were to hold multiple bodies in the prep room, he explains, the spirits could get
confused and be sent back to the wrong place.
Responding to a growing need for Hmong funeral homes, Vang says, his business will be opening a fourth chapel in
Minneapolis in August.
Erin Hinrichs can be reached at 651-748-7814 and ehinrichs@lillienews.com. Follow her at twitter.com/EHinrichsNews.
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