Huntsville Times - "Griffith Supports New Embalming Bill"

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Huntsville Times - "Griffith Supports New Embalming Bill"

Lawyers hire paralegals, doctors have physicians' assistants, nurses employ licensed practical nurses and teachers have teacher's aides.

State Sen. Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, a candidate for Congress who owns 13 funeral homes, said Wednesday that funeral homes should be able to license embalmers and funeral directors as "assistants" after five or more years of supervised experience.

Griffith's legislation, the subject of a public hearing today in the Senate Health Committee, is opposed by the Alabama Funeral Directors Association.

The bill would allow funeral home workers and directors who have had no formal education, but have worked under those who have, to be licensed by the state Board of Funeral Services after five years.

Under current law, an embalmer must attend two years of college and then complete two years of mortuary college before taking the Board of Funeral Services exam. Bishop State Community College in Mobile and Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham offer the only two mortuary courses in Alabama.

Griffith's company, Green River Enterprises Inc., with funeral homes in Etowah, Limestone, Marshall and Morgan counties, says there's a shortage of licensed embalmers and funeral home directors.

Griffith said he believes nearly all Alabama funeral homes are in compliance with state law, but "it's very difficult to remain in compliance."

He said he's had no problems with the funeral homes he owns because his employees are flexible enough to move from one to another, as needed.

"Many funeral home owners and direct embalmers are experiencing an inability to find licensed people to work in funeral homes," he said. "When faced with that problem in other professions, we have developed certain categories of occupational licenses - practical nurses or physicians' assistants or legal secretaries.

"We may want to create an assistant embalmer. Right now, that position does not exist. Because some funeral homes are very busy, we need to get these people some help through people who are licensed and working under licensed people."

But Denise Edmisten, executive director of the funeral directors association, said her organization opposes the bill because it is unfair to those who have attended mortuary schools and earned legitimate licenses.

"Any occupation that involves the human body, a doctor, a dentist or an orthodontist, you have to be very careful to make sure things are done absolutely correctly," she said. "To have a license, you have to have the education to support it.

"While you can learn at the hands of others and become an apprentice, the education is needed."

Warren Higgins, director of the state Board of Funeral Service, said his agency will enforce whatever the Legislature enacts. But among the agency's board members, Higgins said, "There appears to be a good bit of opposition to it."

Griffith said Wednesday that those in the industry may be more comfortable with his legislation after hearing the pros and cons of it.

"Some are not on board with it yet," he said. "Lots of details need to be fleshed out. This is a work in progress. That's why we want to hear from everyone in the industry."

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