COLUMBUS — To avoid the backlogs created by last fall's anthrax scares and hoaxes, the Ohio Department of Health plans to create a statewide laboratory network with private and public labs.

        The state is awaiting word on whether it will receive up to $29 million for fighting bioterrorism from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of that, $4 million would go to a Laboratory Preparedness Network, said Will McHugh, laboratory bureau director.

        “What we are hoping to do is set up a regional bioterrorism network,” Mr. McHugh said.

        Half the money would go to upgrade the state lab's aging facilities and equipment and set up a secure computer system linking the state department with five local public health laboratories, he said.

        The rest would be used to create two $1 million grants to upgrade a laboratory so that it could handle potentially deadly samples in case of another scare or a bioterrorism attack.

        The health department has closed its regional labs in the last decade, and most county and city health departments use hospitals or private companies for their testing.

        The state wants to improve the remaining public labs, in Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Columbus and Montgomery County, and link them in a computer system that would allow sharing test results.

        “It's strength in numbers,” said Dr. Malcolm Adcock, Cincinnati health commissioner.

        Other health officers in the five areas said they like the idea. William Keck, Akron's health director, said the city would rather get money to enable testing for routine organisms such as the bacteria that cause food poisoning.

        That's not in the CDC's plan, Mr. McHugh said.

        The Columbus lab no longer wants to be the only place in the state that can handle suspicious powder, McHugh said.

        During the anthrax scare, the state laboratory handled more than 1,600 samples from suspicious packages and hoaxes around the state, tying up the lab and driving up expenses for six weeks.

        “We were getting literally bombarded by all the white powder samples in every shape, color and variety,” McHugh said. “None of those was positive.”

        Meanwhile, the department spent more than $70,000 over six weeks for Laboratory Corporation of America, based in Burlington, N.C., to take over routine tests such as food samples, viruses and tuberculosis screening.

        The company was “gracious” but wants long-term commitments, he said.

        “I would much prefer that public health testing be done by public health entities,” McHugh said.

        Only Canton's Board of Health handled some samples during the scares, said Jim Adams, director of environmental health.

        “We only handled materials that we were reasonably certain we'd find nothing,” he said.

        The department quickly developed a system to find which of the worried callers to four local health departments in Stark County might have a genuine concern.

        “We were able to defuse a lot of situations just by talking to people and providing information,” he said.

        The networking idea actually began from discussions among local clinics that treat sexually transmitted diseases, Adcock of Cincinnati said. Bioterrorism threats added urgency.

        The Columbus health department's laboratory specializes in testing for sexually transmitted diseases, said Debbie Coleman, director of infectious disease services.

        “We think that's really appropriate that we would share resources,” she said. “We're in a really good position because we just built a new lab.”

        Even without the money, local departments already know help is available in an emergency, Adcock said.

        Cincinnati's lab was swamped last spring and summer with samples from a shigella outbreak at day care centers, he said. The bacteria causes diarrhea. Now officials know they could ask Canton's lab to take some samples in a pinch.

        “It's going to lead to a collaboration that becomes more formal over time, and it's already having some benefits,” Adcock said.

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