Intermountain Health's central lab in Murray, Utah, has expanded and nearly doubled in size to help lower testing costs and improve lab services for patients and the system's hospitals in the region.
The upgraded lab building more than doubles the previous space from 40,542 square feet to 85,728 square feet. The new space allows for the addition of specialty testing previously unavailable at Intermountain facilities in Utah. This includes testing for organ donation compatibility, which previously was sent to labs, including those out of state.
The lab opened in 2006 and was designed to run 24-hours a day.
Last year, it processed more than 15 million medical tests, and Intermountain expects that number to rise by millions with the expanded capacity.
"Medical testing is a vital part of every aspect of healthcare, and doing it efficiently is important for keeping costs low while getting results fast," Sterling Bennett, MD, medical director of Intermountain Central Laboratory, said in a May 13 news release. "With the technological advancements of medical equipment and the expanded space, our central lab can do even more for our patients."