Allina Hospitals & Clinics has started building a $29 million medical laboratory space near its headquarters in south Minneapolis.
The medical lab, scheduled to open in February, will house about 400 people who currently work in a dozen labs scattered around Abbott Northwestern Hospital in south Minneapolis. Abbott Northwestern is one of 11 Minnesota hospitals owned by nonprofit Allina.
The new lab space will be in a large old Sears warehouse Allina owns at 10th Avenue S. and E. 28th Street, and the renovation is being handled by Golden Valley-based Mortenson Construction. The four-story building is just north of the Midtown Exchange Building, commonly known as the old Sears tower on Lake Street, where Allina is headquartered.
Diversified Distribution Systems Inc., a tenant in Allina's warehouse building, is moving its headquarters to Brooklyn Park. The company said it is moving because of Allina's expansion.
Allina's new central lab will occupy about 75,000 square feet on the building's second floor and handle a wide range of medical testing for Allina's hospitals, such as blood work, microbiology cultures and pathology biopsies, said Rick Panning, Allina's vice president for laboratory services.
Allina is also broadening its testing services to include toxicology and virology, he said, although it doesn't plan to hire more people. The new lab also will handle some testing for Allina's clinics.
Allina will continue to send some of its testing to Mayo Clinic and other laboratories.
Allina already has some administration and warehousing units in the building and plans to move in some of its supply chain and materials management functions, too.
