Moving Forward - Relocation of Pathology

By Christine Baker | July 8 2016

The Department of Pathology will soon have a new address! Work is well underway toward the goal of moving a major portion of the Department in 2018 to the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC).

Over the past 5 years, the Department's clinical needs have grown at a rate of 7.8% annually. This, along with the general growth of UMHS, has created demand for a larger and more efficient departmental space. In response, UMHS initiated the Pathology Relocation and Renovation Project (PRR), which will move much of the Department to the NCRC, a facility formerly belonging to the Pfizer Corporation, and located just 4 miles northeast of University Hospital.

The move will allow laboratories currently scattered across the Hospital to consolidate, reducing operational inefficiencies and expenses, while lowering the risk of lost specimens. Additionally, the new location will provide more laboratory space to address current constraints and meet growth demands of UMHS testing. Administrative and faculty offices will be relocated, along with the Division of Education Programs and Pathology Informatics. The Department's most urgent and immediate functions will remain at University Hospital, where all of the spaces will be renovated, realigned, and enlarged, allowing for creation of an automated core laboratory.

Pathology faculty and staff have actively contributed to the design of the new NCRC space by working with designers to review current facilities and explore ways to improve upon them. For example, the PRR Project Team recently met with members of 3 separate laboratories that will share space at NCRC. A mock-up was created so the lab teams could experiment with different spatial arrangements, considering details such as how to create sightlines and where to place sinks and equipment. As the NCRC design effort comes to a close, teams staying within University Hospital will begin designing their spaces, too, including the future core laboratory, blood bank, and apheresis laboratories.

The effort to design and activate the new space for Pathology has been a collaborative and innovative effort across the entire department--involving faculty, staff, and management. It’s an exciting time for the Department of Pathology.