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New $24 million public health lab dedicated Thursday, Oct 5, 2006 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Gov. Mike Huckabee and state health officials officially dedicated the new $24.6 million Arkansas Public Health Laboratory on Wednesday, saying the facility will be able to culture and identify bacteria and viruses that may be released by terrorists. "We built the building because we do have a duty, we do have a responsibility," Huckabee told a crowd about 100 people outside the new three-story building located just south of the state Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Health complex. The 80,000-square-foot building will allow scientists to test for a variety of infectious diseases such as SARS, West Nile virus, avian influenza and monkey pox, the governor said. Officials said they hoped to have the new facility operational by the first week in November. It will replace the current lab, which was built in 1969 and was threatened with decertification last year because of a violation of federal rules. Dr. Joe Bates, deputy state health director, said the need for a new lab became apparent in 2001 during the height of the anthrax scare. He said questions were raised about the air circulation system in the current facility because it was connected with the rest of the state Health Department offices. If a spore of anthrax had been accidentally released in the lab, it could have possibly traveled anywhere in the Division of Health, he said. "The governor and the Legislature responded and put this into action," Bates said. The new lab is freestanding, has its own air system and is secure, he said. Work began on the new lab in August 2004. "It allows us to work safely with some of the most dangers microbes imaginable," Bates said. Dr. Paul Halverson, director of the Division of Health, described the facility as "state of the art" and said it would be used to test food and water to make sure they are safe, detect inherited genetic disorders in newborns and provide early identification of infectious diseases. Dr. Glen Baker, director of the lab, said 138 people will work in the facility, which will have an annual budget of $7 million. He said the state lab performs more than 800,000 tests annually on nearly 500,000 individual specimens. |
