On the eve of the relaunch of a new and controversial city program for issuing death certificates and burial permits, Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D-BROOKLYN) convened a meeting at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Headquarters in Manhattan late last week that included elected officials, representatives from the Mayor’s office, and a contingent of concerned Jewish and Muslim community leaders and funeral directors.

The concerns stemmed from last year’s failed rollout of the new program, known as eVital, which crashed just 40 minutes after going live, resulting in funerals being significantly delayed, in some cases for days, and necessitating a temporary return to the old system. Deutsch had previously led a conversation with stakeholders and the DOHMH in mid-July, to offer activists the opportunity to present their concerns to the team responsible for managing the program.

Many of last week’s meeting participants were displeased over what they described as less-than-satisfactory responses from the DOHMH regarding how the new system’s two-step electronic process might affect time-sensitive religious burials; potential problems resulting from the new system’s reliance on facial recognition technology rather than fingerprints; reports of the new system crashing during training sessions; and whether the DOHMH has appropriate measures in place to deal with problems if and when they arise.

Councilman Mark Levine (D-MANHATTAN), Chair of the City Council’s Committee on Health, attended the meeting and noted that “expeditious processing of death certificates is important for everyone but particularly – due to unique religious obligations – for the Jewish and Muslim communities.”

Dr. Gretchen Van Wye, Assistant Commissioner of the Health Department’s Bureau of Vital Statistics, acknowledged “the serious challenges last year” but voiced her confidence that “this year will be different” before directly addressing specific questions and complaints raised during the meeting. Dr. Van Wye said the new system incorporates state of the art technology that will make the documentation process more convenient for doctors and families as well as funeral homes and burial societies.

Councilman Deutsch, who chairs the City Council’s Jewish Caucus and has led the efforts to ensure that New York’s faith communities will not be adversely affected by this week’s eVital relaunch, said that while he was pleased with the results of last week’s meeting, he “will keep a vigilant watch over what transpires.” He added, “Jewish and Muslim leaders came together and joined forces on this important matter, which affects our communities in a similar way. I thank Speaker Corey Johnson for working with me on this, and Misaskim Director Rabbi Jack Meyer for bringing the issue to my attention.”

Rabbi Meyer, whose organization provides an array of services to bereaved families, said the meeting was “very productive” and was particularly pleased to hear there would be an increased number of DOHMH staffers involved in the eVital rollout and that many more doctors had registered with the new system. “Just three months ago there were 5,833 doctors enrolled, and now that number is up to 9,628,” said Rabbi Meyer. “We really appreciated hearing at this meeting how seriously the DOHMH took the concerns of our communities. It shows what we can accomplish when all of us work together – in this case Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers. It’s what New York City is all about.”

“The Muslim community,” said Noor Rabah, Founder and CEO of The Janazah Project, which provides affordable (and, if necessary, free) funeral services, “is all for advancements in technology. Especially if it will expedite our process to remove a deceased and get them to their final resting ground as soon as possible. We’re excited and nervous at the same time. We’re hoping for the best and praying that it doesn’t turn out like last year.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)