Ljubljana - UKC Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest medical centre, opened on Tuesday new state-of-the-art laboratory facilities that come with the most cutting edge technology in the country. This will make patient care more efficient, said Health Minister Janez Poklukar.

The new premises will provide 3,700 square metres of additional space for more than 240 laboratory experts.

Poklukar said at the opening that the project, which started in 2009, now brought together four laboratories on the first floor of the UKC Ljubljana diagnostic and therapeutic service.

These are the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Biochemistry, the specialist laboratory diagnostics service of the Paediatric Clinic, the specialist haematology laboratory and the laboratory of haemostasis and atherothrombosis of the Internal Medicine Clinic.

The Health Ministry invested EUR 14 million in the project's construction works, EUR 2.9 million for the purchase of laboratory analytical systems and another EUR 2.7 million for special laboratory equipment, the minister said.

"Laboratory medicine is not only a profession, but also a scientific category," he noted, saying that the investment would pave the way for synergies between various fields. Jadranka Buturović Ponikvar, UKC Ljubljana's medical director, agreed, stressing that the new premises and equipment would have a significant impact on the development of laboratory science.

Poklukar also highlighted that the previously dispersed laboratory activities would now be more consolidated and streamlined, which means better and safer healthcare for patients.

According to the ministry, the move to the new premises will be completed by the end of autumn.