A $10 million state of the art medical laboratory was opened in Christchurch on Monday to replace one damaged in the February 2011 earthquake.
The Canterbury branch of Southern Community Laboratories has moved four times since the quake until finally settling at a permanent site in the suburb of Harewood.
In April this year, the organisation partnered with the Canterbury District Health Board to provide more streamlined laboratory services.
Apart from work handled by public hospitals, it will service the entire region from its new facility.
DHB chief executive David Meates says having just two major laboratories in Canterbury will create a more cost effective and high quality service.
The Harewood laboratory employs eight pathologists and 150 scientific, technical and support staff.
It will process 2700 samples a day.