medtech

Oops. I don't know why, but I mixed up the names of Burkhalter and Pendleton. Pendleton was the Dr. with whom I had the run in and Burkhalter was the one for whom I did lab work on his horses. Ya know, I guess, when you get to be 80 years old, the old brain starts to fade. I have many stories about my time at Redbluff Hospital and most of them are difficult to believe but they are true. Here's one. Could you believe that when the hospital pharmacy opened, Burkhalter and Pendleton partially stocked it with the free samples that they got from the drug salesmen? Highly illegal....but true.

I worked in the lab at Redbluff Hospital back in 1964 and 1965. Dr. Burkhalter was a difficult man to work for and as a result of one of his outbursts at me, he and I almost came to blows in his office in front of several patients. I realized the ridiculousness of the situation and walked away fully expecting to be fired. It didn't happen and I continued to work there for another few months. Dr. Pendleton had me do several tests on his quarter horses as well as doing some X-rays in the parking lot with our portable X-ray machine. I finally had enough of the lunacy left and took a job at a chemical plant working in the research department making more money. Shortly after my leaving, Dr. Burkhalter was shot by a man by the name of Steambarge from Dickinson, Texas. The day he was shot, I was hunting in Llano. The importance of this fact is that when the investigators were looking for clues, they found Winston cigarette butts in the grass where Steambarge had waited for Burkhalter to come out the back door to his office. They also found foot prints made by a 10 1/2 boot and a spent .30-06 cartridge. I was hunting with a .30-06 rifle and I wore 10 1/2 boots and, at that time, smoked Winston cigarettes. When I heard of the various clues and the fact that several patients had seen me and Burkhalter almost come to blows in his office, I was scared to death. However, and I'll never know why, I was never interviewed with regard to his death. Many years later, I became good friends with one of the doctors who had worked there prior to my employment. He left before I came to work there. One day we were talking and I mentioned about my scare with regard to Burkhalter's death and my friend told me that he had worked there and was fully aware of all of the goings on. He said that was the reason for his leaving and going into practice elsewhere. I had worked in several hospitals and clinics prior to leaving the practice of Medical Technology and I can tell you that Redbluff Hospital took the cake. One weird place run by the two real odd balls, Burkhalter and Pendleton. I'm glad it's gone. Good riddance!!