A look inside Lubbock County’s new soon-to-open ‘too big’ $45 million medical examiner facility

If you recognize the name Ralph Erdmann, you know just how bad Lubbock County’s reputation has been for autopsies and forensic pathology – a terrible legacy dating back decades.

As just one example, there was a case in the early 1990s when a woman’s headless body was found in Plainview. Erdmann, Lubbock County’s chief pathologist, did the autopsy and then returned the body with a head belonging to someone else. Erdmann made national news more than once for a list of incidents.

Despite a period of stability, pathologists following Erdmann – who died in 2010 – did not permanently turn things around. One was accused of keeping breast implants from autopsies and took a retirement package when the claims became public knowledge. He denied wrongdoing, saying items were kept for teaching purposes.

The county needed a fresh start in 2020 after a private contractor with the Medical Examiner’s office was accused of selling body parts – a claim the company denied.

That’s when Dr. Charles Addington started.

“You haven’t heard anything negative about the ME’s office in quite a few years. I don’t think you’ve heard one negative thing,” Addington told LubbockLights.com.

His job is not doing autopsies. He hires that out to people who are qualified. But one thing he feels qualified to do is make certain Erdman’s reputation will not haunt the county anymore.

“In fact, the last negative thing you heard was, ‘The damn people are going to build something that costs too much and is too big.’ Guilty! Okay?” Addington said.

A brand new $45 million facility for the ME’s office opens north of Lubbock either late this year or early next.

First promise – nothing unethical

Addington credits his staff with “nothing but yeoman’s work.”

“I give myself minimal credit. And I give most of the credit to the rest of my staff,” Addington said.

“I promised them that I would never do one thing unethical, and by God, I’m not going to do anything unethical,” Addington said.

Standards of care are met, he said. And Addington said many people don’t know this, but autopsies have already returned to Lubbock County. Bodies were sent to Tarrant County for a while.

“Not one body from Lubbock County goes to Fort Worth and it hasn’t in two years. Not one body! We take care of everything right here in this facility,” Addington said of a former surgical center building on South Loop 289.

There is some toxicology and DNA work needing to be sent to a lab. But the bulk of the work is done in Lubbock – even now before the new facility opens.

The medical examiner’s office has improved relationships with funeral homes, police and the district attorney, Addington said.

“All we’ve ever heard since Erdmann was here is that we were a schlock organization – that we’re cheating and taking advantage and selling body parts and all that stuff. And there’s not one single person here today that had anything to do with that. … I believe now we have finally overcome that,” Addington said.

The punch list

Local voters approved a $35 million bond in November 2023 plus the county had $10 million from ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act). The ‘punch list’ – the last little bits and pieces of the construction project should start on October 1. From there it’s another 30 to 45 days, Addington said.

During a recent tour of the facility, officers from the Amarillo Police Department along with representatives of nine counties showed up (Lubbock, Bailey, Cochran, Dickens, King, Lamb, Potter, Randall, Winkler).

“We are excited about the potential to handle these counties’ autopsies. … It’s probably sooner than we would have anticipated,” Addington said.

Addington told tour guests the place is built to support a population of a million people. That’s why it’s “too big” in Addington’s words.

County Judge Curtis Parrish said during the tour, “We have built it in such a way that it can serve the needs of this region for the next 40 years.”

“We had to build something people could be proud of. We needed to be the facility that other people want to come train at, that other people want to come see, that other people want to come model,” Addington said.

The county will pay “exponentially more in 10 years” if the project is not right.

Addington hopes to get the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center involved.

“We’re trying to establish in time a pathology residency,” Addington said.

A few more offices can be added to the building if and when the HSC wants to join. The place was built for training and education.

Other promises made

Before the 2023 bond election, Addington made public promises.

• State-of-the-art ME’s office, lasting 25 years or more
• Capacity to expand
• Designed for training and education
• Qualified pathologists
• Open to other counties to spread out the cost burden

“I promised everybody that we would have a state-of-the-art facility. And I think if you tour it and you look at it, that is absolutely what we have,” Addington said – adding he thinks there’s every reason to think it will last 25 years or more.

“I promised everybody that this would be a facility that was built around training and education, and we are actively and aggressively seeking that right now.” … I promised everybody that we would have pathologists in play to make sure that it was up and ready to go and that is established,” Addington said.

The proposed budget for the ME’s office in the coming fiscal year is roughly $3 million – down slightly from the current year.

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