Thursday, April 3, 2025
4/3/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Background: The County of San Diego, Health and Human Services Agency’s Public Health Laboratory (PHL) is a Biosafety Level 3 reference laboratory supporting the County. The PHL serves as the approved Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Select Agent Laboratory for San Diego and Imperial Counties and as the location of the federal BioWatch program for the detection of bioterrorism agents in the County. In addition, the PHL assists with surveillance and detection of infectious diseases and collaborates with community partners during outbreaks. In February 2022, it was determined that the Health Services Complex which housed PHL was no longer suitable for use and therefore an immediate plan for a new laboratory was initiated. The new PHL building will be located at the County Operations Center and is estimated to be approximately 52,000 square feet to accommodate laboratory needs. The space allocation at the new facility will also result in an increased laboratory workspace of approximately 7,000 square feet to allow for the expansion of testing capabilities and methods within PHL. The new laboratory is projected to be completed in April 2025. Purpose: Funds for this project will help with improving PHL’s testing capabilities through updated and critical instrumentation for the new County of San Diego Public Health Laboratory as well as equipment needed for staff to operate in new space. Project also supports equipment for beach water testing critical to advisories needed to protect the public from the impacts Tijuana River Valley Crisis. Project expenses include moveable equipment for laboratory testing, ancillary equipment such as incubators, equipment installation, training of equipment, maintenance of equipment and office IT equipment for new spaces. A fully functioning PHL that provides the core activities of surveillance, assessment, and assurance, is essential to ensuring the best health outcomes for our communities. Thus, PHL con sistently monitors advancements in laboratory and testing equipment and processes to improve testing capabilities, reduce response times, and provide efficient and effective services to interrupt transmission of disease and protect all San Diego County residents, especially the most vulnerable. Population Group(s) to be served: PHL provides essential public health services to all communities experiencing health disparities and inequities across a wide range of diseases, behavioral risk factors, environmental exposures, social determinants, and health-care access by sex, race and ethnicity, income, education, disability status, and other social characteristics. San Diego has a total population of 3.3 million, is one of the busiest border crossings in the United States and is home to a diverse population including military and tribal communities. The equipment supporting beach water testing is used daily on several communities identified by SB 535 (disadvantaged communities).
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).