Chad Armstrong joins Cape Girardeau County coroner race

Chad Armstrong, an emergency medical physician from Jackson, has entered the race for the Cape Girardeau County coroner position as a Republican.

“Dealing with the emergency medical aspect as well as the first responders, it felt like there definitely needed to be a change,” Armstrong said. “Looking into the qualifications that are needed, or the lack thereof, I felt like it was something that I could bring a positive impact to the county.”

Armstrong’s main goal, he said, is to bring integrity back to the coroner’s office.

“That would be a day one, first and foremost,” he said.

He said, if elected, he wanted all cases to pass through the coroner’s office to be processed expeditiously and accurately.

“I enjoy being able to help people, and doing that is a lot of why I went into medicine to begin with,” he said.

Armstrong entered the medical field in 2000, starting out as an emergency medical technician.

He worked in five different fire departments or districts, has experience as a medical director and entered medical school at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in 2008.

Armstrong has worked at Saint Francis Healthcare System since 2012.

He was the only individual to submit a proposal for a medical examiner position when Cape Girardeau County commissioners were considering implementing the role in December, though they did not advance his proposal.

Armstrong said he still thinks the medical examiner role would be beneficial for the county.