Smith also said the lab will allow the Blood Center, a nonprofit, to control costs for hospital customers.
The new laboratory sits on land previously occupied by a floral exchange and virtually abandoned in recent years. Besides the 20,000-square-foot new structure, a smaller 2,600-square-foot building has also been restored for future use.
When the Blood Center announced its intentions to build the lab last year, Dr. Michael Fine, director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, called the new facility “an investment in the good health of all Rhode Islanders.”
Smith said the Blood Center currently employs nearly 400 and anticipates adding more jobs at the new facility in time.
The $8 million project was self-funded, Smith said, not reliant upon taxpayer dollars. Vision 3 was the project architect, and E.W. Burman Inc. the construction company.
The Rhode Island Blood Center was founded by the hospitals in Rhode Island in 1979 to develop a more efficient system of collecting, testing and distributing blood products and has grown to a full-service regional blood center.
By Kaylen Auer
PBN Web Editor