Public sees new genetic center building during reception
June 26, 2009
By GRAHAM LOVE/ glove@indexjournal.com
The new Greenwood Genetic Center building is complete, and officials are already showing off the new facility.
The GGC hosted an advance showing of the new building Wednesday evening, as a group of doctors, government officials and other community members were able to tour the facility and talk with staff members about how the new building will benefit them.
The center’s new home is about 30,000 square feet, two stories and, for the first time, allows the center to house its labs and clinical services area in the same building.
The new building has labs on the second floor and its clinic on the second floor.
“We are very excited about this spectacular new building,” GGC director Dr. Roger Stevenson said “It is going to benefit us greatly in the work we do, and also benefit everyone treated and lab work done here.”
Having the lab and clinical treatment in the same building will allow the center to participate in clinical trials and expand on some of the library diagnostics and services provided throughout the state, according to Dr. Steve Skinner, GGC director of clinical and treatment services.
He added the new facility would eliminate “cramped spacing” that existed in the old facility, as the laboratory and clinical facilities have been expanded.
The expansion of laboratory facilities should help with diagnoses, establishing treatments and making sure what is being done is helpful. The expanded clinical services will allow for involvement in clinical trials, new therapies and providing more services than before to those locally.
The GGC currently provides more than 4,000 clinical visits yearly throughout the state and tens of thousands of lab tests each year, with those tests coming from in and out of state and other countries.
Skinner said the new building will allow the GGC to see more patients and expand on tests they provide, as now some tests have to be shipped out of state for completion.
“It serves as a physical symbol of hope for patients that new treatment is on the horizon for genetics services,” Skinner said. “There is a place you can come, and it is a center to serve the whole state. We want to ensure that as new therapies become available, and that it’s here in our state for our citizens.”
The new facility has been in the works for a while, with major planning taking place the last seven years.
In 2002, officials started planning the basic ideas and concepts of the building. There was another three years of drawing plans for the building and 18 months for construction.
Most of the equipment has been moved from the old buildings into the new facility, with work already being performed in the new building. The old genetic and lab buildings were built in the early 1980s.
The new GGC building is across the street from its current campus on Gregor Mendel Circle.
