State officials broke ground Friday on a new clinical testing center just southwest of Lansing.
The new facility will house integrated laboratory space for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.
The Ministry of Health's Laboratory Office currently offers a variety of clinical and environmental public health tests. Officials say the total testing volume is nearly 7 million a year, making it one of the top seven state public health labs in the nation. An example test is:
- human infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and legionellosis;
- potential bioterrorism and chemical terrorism specimens submitted by law enforcement agencies and the FBI;
- Infectious pathogens and toxins in materials to which people have been exposed, such as testing for rabies in bats that have bitten people, and testing for toxins produced by harmful algae. (Rabies testing alone could save the state about $30 million by avoiding unnecessary post-exposure precautions, the state said.)
- Newborn Screening: All newborns in the state are screened for 58 different potentially life-threatening diseases within 36 to 72 hours of birth.
- Chemical exposure: The lab conducts over 500,000 tests to measure biomarkers of human chemical exposure, including blood lead testing and testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the blood. We are conducting more than one inspection.
Once construction is complete in 2026, the 300,000-square-foot facility will provide expanded testing facilities for state health and environmental authorities.
“This new state-of-the-art building allows us to expand the amount of testing that we can do and really modernize the types of testing that we're going to do,” said Director Elizabeth Hertel. . Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Most of the $326 million spent on the new lab will come from the state's share of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
