8 



nATEMENT OF STEPHEN' A. FICCA, ASSOCIATE DIREaOR OF RESEARCH 

 SERVICES, NATIONAL INHITUTES OF HEALTH 



Mr. Ficca. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 



Before I give my brief statement, I'd like to introduce some supporting wit- 

 nesses I have with me today. One is Dr. Lance Liotta, who is Deputy Director 

 for Intramural Research at the National Institutes of Health — NIH. And Mr. 

 Jorge Urrutia, who is Director of Engineering Services for the National Insti- 

 tutes of Health. 



Mr. Chairman, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to appear before you to 

 discuss the infrastructure of our federal laboratories. Today, testimony today 

 will focus on the current condition of the research facilities at the NIH and 

 the impact that these conditions have had on the institutes' research mission. 



As a result of investment in NIH research, concepts that were not under- 

 stood and technologies that did not exist as recently as ten years ago are sav- 

 ing lives today. For example, the NIH has played a major role in reducing 

 mortality from heart disease and stroke, in developing new drug treatments 

 that have given children with cancer a better than 50 percent chance of living 

 a normal life, and in the discovery of vaccines to protect against infectious dis- 

 eases that once killed or maimed millions. 



Unfortunately, there are many diseases yet to be conquered. As we speak 

 here today, researchers at NIH are working on better ways to prevent and 

 treat cancer, blindness, arthritis, diabetes, AIDS, and Alzheimer's Disease, to 

 name a few. 



As NIH continues to confront disease and disability, we also face unprece- 

 dented stress on its physical infrastructure. As the next century approaches, 

 we must pause to consider the profound ramifications of past decisions and 

 pressures that have impacted on the repairs and maintenance of our buildings 

 and facilities. 



Dynamic changes in biomedical research and clinical care have led to an 

 ambitious program of new construction and renovation on the NIH campus 

 since the mid-1970s. Despite these efforts, much remains to be done to im- 

 prove the condition of NIH's intramural research facilities. 



More than half of the research buildings on the NIH campus are from 30 

 to 50 years old. These buildings are deficient in meeting current standards of 

 safety, air conditioning, ventilation, and electrical service. Much of the central 

 utility plant and its distribution systems which support all NIH buildings ex- 

 ceed or are approaching limits on their rated useful lives. 



These systems are inefficient, obsolete, unreliable, and have insufficient 

 capacity to meet existing, much less projected, research demands. 



The impact of these conditions on NIH research capability is important. 

 For example, we are unable to provide continuing CAT scanning capability 

 due to an inadequate power supply. Newly initiated studies on restenosis fol- 

 lowing angioplasty and another study concerning genetic basis of hypertrophic 

 cardiomyopathy have been curtailed due to infrastructure constraints. 



Many of the concerns about campus-wide infrastructure are reflected in the 

 conditions found in the NIH Clinical Center complex, the keystone of the 

 intramural research program at NIH. 



The Clinical Center complex is the world's largest hospital devoted exclu- 

 sively to clinical research. As a national resource, it contains almost half of the 



