New lab equipment includes a $10,000 Coulter Counter, which is used in hematology analysis. In addition, UHS has installed a second electrocardiogram device, several new refrigerators to hold samples, and an autoclave, which sterilizes instruments electrically.

Wotschiak said the additional space on the fourth floor was designed primarily to give patients "privacy and comfort" that they did not have on the first floor, where there was no waiting room for patients seeking test result.

"The reception area alone is probably the size of the old downstairs lab," she said, adding. "Before, we kept patients waiting out in the halls. We had a traffic jam by the bathrooms."

Comfort

UHS's first-floor walk in clinic waiting area is also being evaluated Long said. He added that future renovations will probably involve enlarging the area and redesigning the arrangement of the seats to make patients more comfortable.

"The perceptions [of UHS] have a lot to do with how comfortable people feel and how aesthetically pleasing the surroundings are," he said.

"I've always thought [the design of] the walk-in clinic is awful," Wacker said, adding. "It's always reminded me of a poorly designed railway station."