NorthBay begins new construction project

NorthBay begins new construction project
Posted: 01/16/2009 07:40:58 AM PST

While other hospitals are curtailing or stopping construction projects, work begins later this month on a long-awaited, new $5.5 million laboratory building at NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield.

NorthBay Healthcare received the last of the necessary state and city permits to build a 4,000-square-foot facility on the front side of the hospital near the ambulance entrance to the Emergency Department.

The new lab is a necessity, said Bridgit Strachan, vice president of quality and professional/support services. "Our people in the lab have done awesome work in some very crowded, outdated conditions. I'm sure this will increase productivity and ensure we maintain our high standards."

The space being vacated by the current laboratory will remain unused until funding is secured and planning is done for a new pharmacy. That project, hospital officials said, will be affected by the economic downturn.

Groundbreaking for the lab will be the final week of January with construction taking a year. The laboratory is expected to be operating by January 2010.