The public health lab located in the Oklahoma State Department of Health building in Oklahoma City needs to be replaced due to a growing number of structural issues, but its fate rests in the hands of the legislature, according to a report from The Oklahoman.
In 2013, the public health lab received approximately 194,000 specimens and ran roughly 661,000 tests, all the while dealing with a faulty air conditioning unit that floods the lab, drains that back up and no room to expand.
The issues have led officials to ask the state to issue $49 million in bonds to pay for a replacement, appropriated as $4.9 million each year for bonds over a 10-year period, according to the report.
Should the legislature deny funding, the lab may lose its accreditation and the state would have to pay roughly $9 million each year to have other public health laboratories perform its tests.
Oklahoma Health Commissioner Terry Cline, PhD, expressed concerns to The Oklahoman over the funding of a new facility, saying, "[The lab is] kind of like an old car that you have, and at some point, you say, 'We cannot keep putting money into it,' especially if it won't get us to point A to point B."
He continued, "We need to make that investment to protect the people of the state of Oklahoma, so I have a lot of concern."