Transportation of a dead body to Medical School, Anatomical Donation Program

Hi,

I think I can help you out here.

My grandfather passed away at St Joes in Ypsi, and had requested his body donated to U of M. This was 6 years ago.

Call the Medical School, ask to talk to who is in charge of Anatomical Gifts. We did not have to pay for transport from St Joes to U of M.

We did have the option of burial on U of M Cemetery grounds, or cremation, and that was also done free of cost. Remains were mailed to us about 2 months later.

If you choose the cremation option...warning...I don't know how common this is...but....we got the ashes first, THEN the post card telling us they were on the way.

Anyway, what a generous gift, as it does a wonderful job of teaching along with research.

Thank you for posting in Caring.com, I have put my name into the Donations Program, and I recieved the brochure telling me that I MUST HAVE A FUNERAL DIRECTOR to bring my body to the school. I live in Brighton, Michigan. It is 17 miles from Brighton to Ann Arbor. When I called the local funeral home, they sent me a "MENU" of their services, in the mail. There I found out the cost of transporting my body to the school: $2,000.00!!!! I don't want to spend my children's hard earned money in this way. There has got to be another way, to drop my body off at the school. To me this is EXORBITANT charge to pay!! What do you think, does this amount of money seem fair to you?? I am on Social Security Disablilty and the last I heard death 'Benefits' were in the neighborhood of($276.00) LESS THAN THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS!! Now what?? Thanks for responding, hope I hear from more people that have this dilemma, its going to be hard enough for my children with out have a "BIG TICKET ITEM" on their credit card!!

I'm near you, in Howell.

Talk to the person in charge of Anatomical Donations. I remember Gramps did it, it also took 3 Witness signatures on the form.

There's a need for Anatomical Gifts, so I would think $2000 would send people running from the program. And would probably include embalming, etc.

Also, talk to other funeral homes. We went with Borek Jennings in Howell, they are on Michigan Ave, heading from Grand River towards D-19. Way before the railroad tracks.

Good luck to you, and know you are doing a great thing.

hello Orph! Sounds like dolphinscry knows more than I do! I would also check with other universities if this one isn't being helpful in their need for this anatomical gift.