On Apr. 3, 2020, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) announced that it had established an in-house COVID-19 testing lab that OHSU staff built from scratch and opened for business on March 24.

One prime example is an in-house COVID-19 testing lab that OHSU staff built from scratch and opened for business on March 24. Today, the lab is enabling OHSU to identify coronavirus patients within 36 hours. But back in March, there was no clinical microbiology laboratory at OHSU’s Marquam Hill campus. It was constructed, stocked, staffed and operational in just 14 days.

The effort started with a flurry of phone calls and emails between OHSU research and pathology staff determined to contribute to OHSU’s clinical fight against the virus descending on the world – and Oregon.

The lab is a BSL-2+ lab, or a Biosafety Level 2 laboratory with BSL-3 practices and procedures in place. This hybrid model means that PPE — including gloves, lab coats and gloves, eye protection and face shields — and procedures that can cause infection from aerosols or splashes are performed within a biological safety cabinet. An Occupational Health Program exists for medical surveillance of laboratory workers and access to the laboratory is restricted and controlled at all times.

The Healthcare Facilities and Construction and Design teams rebuilt a former lab located in a building on the south side of OHSU’s Marquam Hill campus in Portland. In one week, they had the space ready for facilities to begin building lab benches and cabinets, tables for computers, wash stations, and all that the lab would require.

The Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute team brought extensive experience establishing workflows and detection systems for emerging viruses. This experience was key at this point in construction. The team from Marquam Hill toured the Biosafety Level 3 lab on West Campus to get a sense of the kind of space required for appropriate biosafety. Before the laboratory workbenches and tables were placed and constructed in the new laboratory, the VGTI team visited the new lab to help organize the logistics of workflow that contribute to biosafety. Following that, the lab space was ready to be completed.

The lab enabled OHSU to identify coronavirus patients within 36 hours. In March, there was no clinical microbiology laboratory at OHSU’s Marquam Hill Campus.