A ribbon-cutting ceremony held October 22, 2014 for the Vermont Health Department’s new state-of-the-art laboratory comes at a time when global health crises like the Ebola virus epidemic are at the forefront of the public’s minds and saturating the international media. The event, which featured special guest Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, took place at the new lab, which is co-located with the University of Vermont College of Medicine Colchester Research Facility at the Colchester Business and Technology Park on South Park Drive in Colchester, Vt.

The new facility was designed, in part, to facilitate collaboration between university researchers and public health scientists and shares a common entrance with the University of Vermont Colchester Research Facility. According to the Health Department, the new lab will be open for business in November 2014.

With the launch of this facility, the Vermont Health Department went from having the oldest lab in the country – one built in 1952 – to having the newest lab in the country to date. Planning for the 47,844-square-foot laboratory, which replaces the Health Department’s current 32,695-square-foot facility at the corner of Colchester and East Avenues in Burlington, Vt., has been in process for more than 10 years. Originally the location for both administrative offices as well as the lab, the old lab building was renovated in 1985 to serve exclusively as a lab, but the renovations did not replace the antiquated heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems nor did they allow for additional space for new instrumentation.  

“We’re proud to be able to provide a new facility for Vermonters at a time in history when the ability to quickly and effectively respond to both old and emerging diseases and health threats has never been more important,” says Governor Shumlin.

The Health Department laboratory routinely performs a wide range of analyses to detect biological, toxicological, chemical and radiological threats to the health of the population – from testing for blood lead levels, rabies, flu, pertussis and salmonella, to drinking water contaminants and toxins.

The lab also has capabilities to respond rapidly to public health emergencies such as novel strains of flu, suspicious substances containing anthrax or ricin, and unusual events like the tritium leak at Vermont Yankee or widespread flooding after Tropical Storm Irene. More than 50,000 tests are performed at the facility every year.

Health and UVM officials have cited a number of mutual benefits, such as the ability to partner on specialized medical research, the potential for increasing research funding and enhanced recruitment, and cost economies for both resulting from sharing facilities.

From the Health Department’s point of view, being connected to a major medical research facility keeps public health on the leading edge of the health sciences, expands the training ground for future laboratorians, and provides surge capacity with specialized labs, instruments and personnel in the event of a public health emergency that requires 24/7 response.

“By collaborating, we have produced a facility that allows us all to derive a greater benefit than the sum of our individual parts – the definition of true synergy,” says College of Medicine Dean Frederick Morin, M.D.

Read "Five cool facts about the new state health lab" in the Burlington Free Press.