Tripler hazard lab falls through
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Tripler Army Medical Center will not build a $41 million biomedical research center that would have allowed scientists to handle infectious agents like tuberculosis and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.
The "biosafety level 3" center, a 59,000-square-foot facility, was to update existing labs, attract research grants, and provide the state with a greater ability to test for and safely contain biohazards, including anthrax.
Instead, Tripler is planning to build a 36,000-square-foot, $29 million facility in 2009 for its department of clinical investigations and animal care facility.
The anthrax scare following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, overwhelmed lab capabilities in Hawai'i. More than 400 packages and letters were tested by the state Department of Health lab in Pearl City. A Navy lab at Pearl Harbor also provided analysis.
Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the state Health Department, said "it is unfortunate that Tripler will not be able to add the research capacity."
An environmental assessment for the now rejected "biosafety level 3," or BSL-3, facility states that it "would function as a bioterrorism response component of the national homeland defense infrastructure and increase the readiness posture of (Tripler) in support of the armed forces stationed or deployed in the Pacific region."
Tripler will maintain a BSL-2 rating, but it's not conducting any research at that level. Lab activities involving infectious microorganisms are rated by biosafety level, on a scale from 1 to 4.
The Tripler department of clinical investigations doesn't have sufficient staff, operating funds and facilities to support a BSL-3 research mission, said Virginia Stephanakis, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Army Medical Command, in an e-mail.
However, the proposed $29 million facility will be designed to allow for modification or expansion to accommodate such a mission change in the future, she said. About 30 people will be moved to the new facility.
A separate $1.7 million BSL-3 modular lab, expected to be used for patient care, still is being built, although a contract dispute has pushed construction into next year.
This is the second time Tripler's plans for biomedical research have been scaled back. A 231,000-square-foot, $150 million biomedical research and technology center was envisioned several years ago in partnership with the University of Hawai'i and Department of Veterans Affairs. However, UH and the VA failed to obtain federal financing, and Tripler decided to go it alone with the 59,000-square-foot facility.
The state Health Department two years ago said it was planning a $1.5 million expansion of its lab to enhance its BSL-3 capabilities. Officials said construction should start within a year.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
