Michael J. Nesheiwat, M.D.
Putnam County Coroner
I have served Putnam County as coroner for 21 years. I am asking for your support this November.
Carmel Fire Department
Republican nominee for re-election, 2026
The firehouse, then the Health Department.
I have been with the Carmel Fire Department since 1976, and with the county’s health work since 1998.
The firehouse
Life member of the Carmel Fire Department since 1976. I was captain, then chairman of the board. I am honorary chief now, and I have been the department’s physician since 1992.
The Health Department
On the Board of Health since 1998. Commissioner from December 2015 through 2025. Since January 2026 I have been medical consultant to the department, and county physician since 2004.
This office
I file the death certificates. We moved from EDRS to DAVE. I keep the overdose and suicide figures current, and I stay with the funeral homes, the hospital, and the donation programs.
The record
My accomplishments with the Health Department, the firehouse, and the Coroner’s Office.
- Updated the coroner’s section of the Major Emergencies plan. Supplies and protective equipment are on hand.
- Ongoing historic record digitization, kept on encrypted storage, with backup copies in county storage.
- Death certificates moved from EDRS to DAVE, and coroners were trained.
- Reporting of overdose and suicide figures to the County Executive, the Legislature, the Sheriff’s Office, Social Services, the Health Department, and the Prevention Council of Putnam. We also work with the District Attorney’s office, which uses them for its HIDTA grant.
- I am engaged with the Suicide Task Force, bringing together the coroners, the pathologist, and the staff each quarter.
Since 2005
Fifth term as coroner.
Recertified through September 2028. Incident commander for the county’s COVID-19 response since December 2019.
2015–2025
Commissioner of Health.
Medical consultant to the Health Department since January 2026. A member of the Bioterrorism Task Force.
Why I am asking again
I have served Putnam County as coroner for 21 years, and I would appreciate your support this November at the voting booth. The office of coroner knows no political affiliation. My commitment continues to be the same: to serve all of our citizens through some of their hardest times, with compassion, professionalism, and dignity.
Thank you for your trust and support.
Fire. Physician. Coroner.
Life member of the Carmel Fire Department. Commissioner of Health, 2015 through 2025. Coroner since 2005.
- Carmel Fire Department, 1976
- Health Department, 1998
- Coroner, 2005
What I will carry forward
The files
I will keep the yearly filing, and the list of what is in storage.
The training
Every coroner will finish Incident Command training. We will hold a major-emergencies course. I will keep the spring and fall NYSACCME conferences.
With Mental Health
The talks about earlier help for depression and anxiety will continue. So will my place on the Suicide Task Force.
Families and the hospital
LiveOnNY, the Eye Bank for Sight Restoration, and Putnam Hospital Center on emergency-room certificates. The coroner’s page stays current, so a family can find the form to request an autopsy record.
There is a quote by Hippocrates that has been the foundation of my medical and public health careers. “Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity.” I try to treat each person as family.
I led the Health Department as commissioner from December 2015 for ten years, and I am now its medical consultant. Before that I practiced family medicine for 30 years in Brewster. I am a senior attending physician and a board member at Putnam Hospital Medical Center, each for more than a decade. I also serve on the board of Nuvance Health/Northwell, and on the Putnam County Board of Health for well over 30 years.
I earned my medical degree in 1986 from the State University of New York, interned at Brooklyn Hospital Center, and finished a family medicine residency at St. Joseph’s in Yonkers, where I was chief resident and director of the emergency department. I am a Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Health Sciences and Practice at New York Medical College, and accredited by the Coroner/Medical Examiners Association. I am a board member and life member of the Carmel Volunteer Fire Department, and I volunteer with the Fraternal Order of Police, the Free and Accepted Masons, the Shriners, and Rotary.
Write me
A note about this office is welcome. I read what comes in.