Health Minister Don McMorris officially opened the province's new public health laboratory.
The new laboratory will meet Saskatchewan's future needs by improving testing capability and speeding up intervention in the event of a public health crisis such as SARS or another influenza pandemic.
"This efficient, improved lab reflects Saskatchewan's position as a health care leader," McMorris said. "It ensures a health system that can even better identify, respond to and prevent illness and disease in our province, ensuring we put patients first."
The Saskatchewan Disease Control Laboratory is located at Innovation Place, adjacent to the University of Regina.
The new $55.5 million lab will enhance existing services such as testing for and monitoring of environmental specimens (such as well-water samples), food-borne illnesses, communicable diseases and influenza. Neonatal screening programs are also provided by the laboratory, as are biosafety and biohazard spill response programs. The addition of a level three lab increases the capacity to test a wider range of unknown pathogens in a safe work environment.Saskatchewan has had a provincial laboratory since 1905.
