Mortician at Avenue Healthcare

Job Objective/Purpose

To provide safe, dignified, and compliant mortuary services by receiving, documenting, preserving, and preparing bodies for viewing/release, supporting post-mortem processes where required, maintaining mortuary hygiene and cold-room integrity, and ensuring strict adherence to infection prevention and control (IPC), legal/chain-of-custody requirements, and hospital policies and procedures.

Key Responsibilities

• Receipt, Identification, Storage & Chain of Custody
  • Receive bodies from wards, casualty, external facilities, police, and the public, ensuring respectful handling and adherence to standard mortuary procedures.
  • Confirm identity details (tags/labels, accompanying documentation) and correctly label the body and storage location to maintain traceability.
  • Place bodies appropriately in cold storage, ensuring correct positioning, labeling, and preservation measures as per SOPs.
  • Maintain and update mortuary registers (receipt, movements, and release) and ensure all required documentation is complete before any release.
  • Identify and escalate medico-legal cases and ensure controlled access and chain-of-custody requirements are maintained for such cases.
• Post-mortem and Related Processes
  • Assist in post-mortem processes as assigned (e.g., preparing the post-mortem area, ensuring instruments/equipment readiness, safe handling and movement of bodies) and ensure bodies are appropriately cleaned/prepared and returned to cold storage or released as per documentation and instructions.
  • Prepare bodies for viewing and/or release in accordance with SOPs and cultural sensitivity, including washing, dressing, shrouding/wrapping, and basic presentation (including embalming where required and when appropriately trained/authorized) following approved protocols, safety standards, and documentation requirements.
  • Release bodies only to authorized relatives/ representatives/ police after verifying identity, legal authorization, and completeness of documentation.
  • Provide courteous, calm, and professional support to bereaved families, maintaining confidentiality, dignity, and respect at all times and guide families/representatives on mortuary processes, timelines, and requirements in line with hospital policy.
• Infection Prevention & Control (IPC), Cleanliness & Safety
  • Maintain a clean mortuary environment through routine cleaning, disinfection, and decontamination, while adhering to strict safety and hygiene protocols when handling hazardous substances, including PPE use, spill response, and segregation/ disposal of biohazard waste (including sharps) per policy.
  • Monitor and record cold-room temperatures (and any other required parameters) as per SOPs and escalate deviations promptly to protect preservation and service continuity.
  • Ensure mortuary equipment (trolleys, stretchers, cold-room racks, PPE, cleaning materials) is serviceable and safely used; report faults for timely repair.
• Financial Stewardship, Billing Integrity and Resource Utilization
  • Deliver unit financial performance through cost control and resource optimization without compromising care quality.
  • Ensure timely and accurate billing, charge capture, documentation to support billing, and reduction of revenue leakage; monitor variances and address root causes.
  • Support inventory control for mortuary consumables (mortuary sheets, disinfectants, PPE, tags/labels), including reorder alerts and expiry checks.
• Professional Conduct & Other Duties
  • Maintain a courteous, compassionate, and professional approach while preserving privacy, dignity, and confidentiality; Manage anxious or difficult patients calmly, escalating where necessary for support.
  • Participate in handovers, departmental meetings, mentorship, and training of students/new staff as assigned.
  • Ensure that Avenue Healthcare corporate governance policies are adhered to, including preventing, detecting, and reporting any fraud or criminal activities, and Implementing audit recommendations.
  • Ensure adequate knowledge of and compliance to all Avenue Healthcare policies, procedures, and systems, especially policies pertaining to the provision of medical services i.e. Admission & discharge, equipment and supplies, emergency protocols, etc.
• Perform any other related responsibilities as may be assigned by the supervisor from time to time.

Person Specification

• Diploma in Mortuary Science, Mortuary Management, or related training
• A valid Mortician Kenya Health Professional Oversight Authority license
• 2 years’ Experience working in a hospital mortuary or funeral services environment
• Knowledge of biosafety and specimen handling requirements.
• Integrity
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Attention to detail
• Result Oriented
• Customer focus
• Reliable