The public will get the opportunity Friday to tour the new Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital lab, the areas first renovation since the hospital was built.

Public tours will be offered from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The hospital will also provide visitors with a complimentary lunch and information on the new lab's facilities.

The new lab has moved closer to the main entrance where space was already available and unoccupied. Information technology support will be moving from off campus into the vacated lab space.

Laboratory Director Vickie Dockery worked with a hospital architecture firm to redesign the existing space to accommodate new technology and staffing needs. She said, "The hospital has been very receptive, and I got everything that I asked for the new lab from new equipment to new furniture and an open, accessible layout."

Renovation of the lab and IT department will cost the hospital $1.5 million, which Tracy Byers, assistant administrator, hopes to recoup with fundraising efforts through the Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital Foundation and through a Medical Care Commission bond.

Jeanette Hendrick, the foundation's executive director, said "The foundation raises funding for the hospital through community grants, employees and public events like our auction and golf tournament," Hendrick said. "Each year we choose a project for our efforts to funnel into. In 2008 we will be raising money to pay for the new laboratory."

Staff will move equipment, supplies and samples after Friday's walk-through. "We start moving major equipment Monday," Dockery said. We will try to remain operational during the move. It will take a lot of careful planning to do that."

Dockery hopes to be done by Tuesday but is unsure of the feasibility. "After moving the instruments, we will have to re-calibrate everything. We have extra staff coming in on Monday to help make the transition as fast as possible and cut down on the confusion of where to send samples during the move."

Dockery plans on moving all nonessential supplies this weekend. "An advantage of the new site is the amount of storage we will have," she said.

New features to the lab include a large storage room, handicapped accessible restrooms, new hematology and chemistry analyzers and new tables with telescoping legs. The lab tables will be height adjustable and more mobile with all of the power sources plugging into specially designed ceiling outlets. A computer classroom is being added and security issues are also being addressed, "People can't just walk in now. The doors will be key padded for safety."

A total of 28 employees operate the lab 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Dockery expects the lab renovations will be sufficient to house their growing needs. "The new lab should last us for many years. We've more than doubled our size in this move." Dockery will be hosting the Friday tours with the help of the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce.