University professor of anthropology Josh Snodgrass’ old lab at Condon Hall was never fully functional, and he said he never had enough room to fit all the lab equipment inside it. But that wasn’t all bad.
“The compromise was that I’d get to set up a new lab at the hospital,” he said.
Snodgrass, who works closely with the University’s human physiology department, and other physiology professors are moving some of their labs to the Sacred Heart Medical Center University District hospital. They will work in second-floor labs formerly occupied by Oregon Medical Laboratories, which moved much of its lab operations to Springfield.
The physiology department is running out of lab space on campus and hopes to utilize the nearby hospital, which is moving its main campus to Springfield’s RiverBend hospital. University administrators are working with PeaceHealth officials as professors move into the new space, said Gary Klug, the human physiology department head.
The new space allows professors and students to work closely with physicians at Sacred Heart. Three professors currently occupy the space, and Klug said he expects one more to be there sometime next year.
“There isn’t sufficient lab space on campus to meet our needs as we bring more faculty to campus,” Klug said.
The University will occupy about 2,000 square feet at the hospital, Klug said, and currently uses roughly 3,000 square feet of physiology lab space on campus. Campus physiology labs are housed in Esslinger Hall, Gerlinger Hall, Gerlinger Annex and the Bowerman Building.
Some of that space isn’t optimal for experiments, Klug said, because the space wasn’t built specifically for research. Noise can be heard in the labs, and vibrations may disrupt some experiments that require exact measurements.
Klug said University administrators have been quick to respond to the lack of lab space.
“They’re doing as much as they can,” he said. “Everyone is doing what they can to help out. We just have limited capacity here.”
The lab space at Sacred Heart may allow professors, students and physicians to work closer together. Physicians at Sacred Heart and University professors in the human physiology department study similar topics on human subjects and use similar equipment.
“The good news is that we have some space now,” Klug said. “The bonus is that we’ll be in the vicinity of some physicians we work with because they’ll be located nearby.”
The labs at Sacred Heart were also designed as medical labs, so most of the needed equipment is already there.
Snodgrass said the Sacred Heart lab is much nicer and newer than his old lab.
“Everything is controlled, from the climate to the good sources of water,” Snodgrass said. “It’s just so much newer than Condon.”
He said he plans on sharing equipment with Andy Lovering, an assistant professor of physiology who uses the same lab as Snodgrass.
In turn, Lovering said he may share equipment with Sacred Heart.
“The University may not be able to buy a piece of clinical equipment that costs more than $1 million, but the hospital can use it to generate revenue through clinical practice,” Lovering said. “We can also use it as a research tool.”
Klug said he dreams of a brand-new building where physicians, professors and students work together in one building.
“It’d be wonderful to have all the research going on in the same building,” he said. “I probably won’t see it in my lifetime, but it’d be optimal.”
Klug said the University will likely work with PeaceHealth in the future.
“I think we can work together, and someday down the road we might end up with more space there,” Klug said. “We’re really not sure.”
Although the new lab space is a few blocks from campus, Lovering and Snodgrass said they don’t have any complaints.
“In all honesty, I feel like I’m right where I want to be,” Lovering said.
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