San Diego City Wire

Anticipation is rising as San Diego County's new $93 million public health laboratory and garage nears completion. Scheduled to open in late spring 2025, the facility will be three times larger than the previous lab, which was limited by outdated infrastructure.

The new two-story building at the County Operations Center in Kearny Mesa will enhance the county's capacity to test for infectious diseases, monitor food and water safety, and detect dangerous pathogens. It will also offer services such as whole genome sequencing and tuberculosis testing.

Additionally, this state-of-the-art lab will serve as a regional resource, functioning as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Lab for San Diego and Imperial Counties. It will provide teaching and training opportunities for public health microbiologists and hospital partners within the community.

Funding for the new lab came from the CDC Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity fund along with the State’s Future of Public Health program.