In a groundbreaking ceremony held on Friday, state officials marked the beginning of construction for a new lab testing center located just southwest of Lansing. This facility will provide consolidated lab space for several key Michigan government departments, including the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.
The Bureau of Laboratories within the health department currently provides a wide range of clinical and environmental public health testing to residents across the state. With an annual testing volume close to 7 million tests, it is one of the top seven state public health laboratories in the nation. Its testing capabilities include infectious disease screening in humans, potential bioterrorism and chemical terrorism specimens submitted by law enforcement, infectious agents and toxins in materials humans have been exposed to, newborn baby screening, and chemical exposure monitoring.
The new 300,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed by 2026 and will greatly expand testing capabilities for state health and environmental agencies. Elizabeth Hertel, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, stated that this state-of-the-art building will allow for increased testing capacity as well as modernization of testing methods.
The majority of the $326 million needed for this project is coming from the state’s share of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. This investment will enable state agencies to improve their testing capabilities and provide essential public health services to residents across Michigan.
