On a brisk West Texas afternoon, members of the Lubbock County Commissioner’s Court, Medical Examiner’s Office and others gathered to break ground on what’s touted to be the county’s new state-of-the-art Medical Examiner’s Office Building.
Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish said county commissioners saw the need to construct the ambitious facility during the COVID-19 pandemic four years ago.
“As Lubbock County began seeing massive increases in hospitalizations, and sadly, double-digit deaths per day because of the coronavirus, we found out very quickly that our current medical examiner’s office was unable to accommodate the capacity needed to handle our ever-growing county and the large number of deceased,” Parrish said.
During that time, temporary storage was built, and extra cooling units were brought in to ease the burden; however, Parrish said it was not enough.
According to previous reporting from the A-J, autopsies had been outsourced to Tarrant County for years, which Parrish said left Lubbock at the mercy of the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office for timely results.
Embarking on a nationwide search in the next few months, the Lubbock County Commissioners are looking for the first pathologist, Parrish said, which would allow Lubbock to conduct autopsies at the new facility.
Parrish said the new facility also will help Lubbock County for the next 30-40 years and will likely benefit much of the region.
“This office will also help us partner with other West Texas counties in meeting their medical examining needs,” Parrish said. “We’re also looking forward to partnering with Texas Tech Health Sciences Center and training the next generation of forensic pathologists.”
Both Parrish and Lubbock County Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Addington thanked the medical examiner’s office staff for their dedication and determination to bring this project to fruition.
Even though the new facility will meet the county’s needs for a few decades, Parrish said that it does include room for expansion, stating it’s not a matter of if but when it is needed.
The new facility is located near the Lubbock County Detention Center, with construction expected to last 18-22 months, Parrish said, pending weather and any unforeseen delays.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock County breaks ground on new $35.4M medical examiner’s office
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