By Reporter Staff
Posted: 12/09/2009
Employees of Fairfield's NorthBay Medical Center install computer equipment and move supplies into cabinets Tuesday in the new lab area of the expanded hospital. (Rick Roach / The Reporter)
It was a frenzy of organized activity Tuesday, as staff, vendors and contractors shifted equipment into NorthBay Medical Center's new $5.5 million clinical laboratory.
The 4,000-square-foot facility at the Fairfield hospital is double the size of its old lab. The facility -- which officially opens for business today -- features a flexible, open floor plan that will make it easier to expand as the hospital grows in the future, NorthBay officials said.
The clinical laboratory operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year, to serve hospital inpatients. It will have a new refrigeration system and ample space for scientists to analyze blood and other samples. It also will add capacity and efficiency to its blood bank.
The staff will find an ergonomically correct working environment, as well, complete with height-adjustable work and counter tops, plenty of natural light from high windows and a natural color scheme that fosters a pleasing work atmosphere.
"For many years our laboratory staff has been working in a very small and crowded space. Despite this, they have continuously provided high quality service to our physicians, patients and staff," Bridgit Strachan, vice president of Quality and Professional/Support Services, said in a press release. "This dedicated team will now have a state-of-the art facility in which to do their work. This new lab space will also accommodate the addition of new technologies and future growth. We are all very excited about the move into this thoughtfully planned and beautifully designed space.
The project contractor was Hearn Construction of Vacaville, with design by BFHL Architects of San Francisco.
The old 1,978-square-foot lab space will remain vacant for future development.
NorthBay Healthcare is a nonprofit, community-based health care system in upper Solano County. In addition to NorthBay Medical Center it operates VacaValley Hospital, the NorthBay Cancer Center and the NorthBay Center for Primary Care.
