Hospital Design

Asking clients for input and allowing staff members to plan the new facility made for a winning combination at Magrane Pet Medical Center.

Stumbling on the ideal property brought Dr. Kenneth Haynes' plans to build a spacious, comfortable hospital to a natural fruition.

Building a spacious, staff-friendly hospital is the best advertisement for high-quality team members, say the owners of Eltham Central Veterinary Hospital.

When a seventh renovation on a 1920s roadhouse just wouldn't give Gehrman Animal Hospital the necessary flow, the owners--two brothers--built a new practice.

Renovating an empty two-story building across the street helped this feline practice attract clients, which boosted practice revenue and helped improve the quality of care Dr. Diane Steinberg offered.

The reasons for building new practices are as varied as the doctors who build them. Some want space for new services. Some want to reflect their medical style. Some want it all. Dr. Mark G. Romain, though, had a humble goal: to build a hospital with a functional floor plan.

Building a hospital is usually an effort of love-and a project you expect to enjoy for years. But Dr. Frank A. Klimitas built his new hospital, a historic building renovation, because of business needs rather than to fulfill a dream.

For years Dr. Susan M. Baker had heard colleagues and consultants tout the benefits of adding profit centers. But her old hospital just wasn't big enough to add any more services. So in 1999, when she outgrew the facility she had leased since 1990, she started working on plans for a new hospital. At 6,200 square feet, her new facility offers space for the additional services she dreamed of offering.

Innovative space-saving solutions, a flawless floor plan, and lots of love went into designing the 1,800-square-foot Landen-Maineville Animal Hospital.

When Dr. Dermot Jevens, Dipl. ACVS, moved from Pittsburgh to Greenville, S.C., in 1997, he decided he needed to get to know the area before building a hospital. So he leased space for his specialty practice from an emergency clinic. Animal Emergency Clinic (AEC), owned by 37 shareholders, welcomed Dr. Jevens and Upstate Veterinary Specialists (UVS) into the AEC facility.

Dr. Steven G. Paul had owned three practices before he built his fourth. And while he had commissioned work on his previous facilities, Wiles Road Animal Hospital in Coral Springs, Fla., is the first practice he has built from the ground up.

Not many people find the opportunity to purchase an area landmark. But when a restaurant went on the market in Salem, Ore., Dr. Tom Van Meter snatched it up; the 1-acre lot featured a 40-foot fir known locally as the holiday tree. "I fell in love with the site," says Dr. Van Meter. "The location offered lots of parking, space to expand, and 30 mature trees, which give the area a park-like feel." In a little more than a year, Dr. Van Meter turned Chelsea's Restaurant into a high-tech veterinary facility that won a merit award in the 2002 Veterinary Economics Hospital Design Competition.

I always knew I wanted to own a practice, but I never guessed that the perfect location would be a strip mall," says Dr. Jean M. Oberg, owner of My Animal Hospital of North Dover in Toms River, N.J. "In 1984, I started cutting hospital design articles out of Veterinary Economics, and when it came time to build, I had hundreds of designs."

In 1995, Dr. Anne Scholl-Mealey opened Chickasaw Trail Animal Hospital in a mall in Orlando, Fla. Six years later, she chose the 1.4-acre lot across the street to accommodate the practice's growth. "We designed our new facility around the oak trees that tower over the site," says Dr. Scholl. "The oaks form a canopy over the driveway, parking lots, and the building."

In the spring of 1997, Dr. William J. Moyle Jr. and his wife, Nancy, decided to build a practice closer to their home south of Denver. And four years later they broke ground on a new facility. During the building process, Veterinary Centers of America offered to buy their existing 14-year-old practice, and Dr. Moyle agreed.

You've outgrown your facility and want to build something bigger and better. You've found a couple of possible locations, and you're starting to look at interest rates.

Drs. Lamar and Amber Crossland knew they wanted Sunset Canyon Veterinary Clinic in central Texas to appeal to long-time ranchers as well as to the Austin urbanites who'd fled the city for greener pastures in Dripping Springs, Texas. And the mixed animal practice also needed to accommodate a gamut of patients, from livestock to polo horses to pampered pooches. One last requirement: seamless movement between the large animal and small animal sides of the practice, because all staff members worked in both areas.

When Dr. Randy Spencer stepped outside his hospital doors 13 years ago and glanced around the growing suburb of Phoenix that surrounded First Regional Animal Hospital, he didn't like what he saw. Ten veterinary hospitals were situated within a 3-mile radius of the practice. "That kind of competition dampens productivity," says the 1987 Colorado State graduate.

Dr. Troy Bearden likens building a new hospital to walking a tightrope without a net. "You take a chance and hope you don't fall," he says. For him and his partner, Dr. Catherine Mabe, the risk paid off. Their 5,300-square-foot Shallowford Animal Hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., more than doubles the size of their former facility and won a Merit Award in the 2002 Veterinary Economics Hospital Design Competition. Two years after opening, the doctors still see new-client numbers increase 30 percent a month.

General practitioners launching their own practices often start small, hoping to afford a larger space eventually. Not so with specialty/emergency practices, say Drs. Gary Block and Justine Johnson, husband-and-wife owners of Ocean State Veterinary Specialists in East Greenwich, R.I.

Drs. Buddy Smith and Benet Sandell started their building project reluctantly. Although they had contemplated renovating or rebuilding before relocating, a big push from a road project forced Hill Country Veterinary Hospital to build on a new site on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, 1/2-mile from their previous site. Today they practice in a 3,100-square-foot, award-winning facility.

Drs. Tia Greenberg and Heidi Tschauner admit that patience is not one of their virtues. With a bit less than 10 years of practice experience, the doctors joined forces to start their own veterinary hospital in a brand-new, 8,815-square-foot facility. "Our experiences working in other practices taught us how important it was that our floor plan to promote an efficient flow of traffic and that we wanted a facility that felt warm and welcoming," Dr. Tschauner says. The product of this vision, Westminster Veterinary Group in Westminster, Calif., earned the 2002 Hospital of the Year award in the 37th annual Veterinary Economics Hospital Design Competition.

When he moved his practice from the converted home it had occupied for 42 years, Dr. Rickey Broussard wanted to maintain the comfortable feel of the practice by building a facility that resembled Grandma's house. And judges of Veterinary Economics' 2001 Hospital Design competition agree that the homey front porch with brick accents gives the facility's dramatic entrance and lofty ceilings the warm appeal Dr. Broussard strived for.

From the butterfly garden to the rattan furniture, the high-touch environment at Chico Hospital for Cats in Chico, Calif., reflects the emphasis on client comfort and reassures clients that team members treat their cats with dignity.

Dr. Richard Piepgras started working at Lakeland Veterinary Hospital his senior year of high school. During the summer visit to his family's vacation cabin, he worked in the kennel, mowed the lawn, and even assisted in surgery. "I've been here a long time," says the 1967 Iowa State graduate, chuckling. Little did he know that he would someday own the practice-and build an award-winning facility to house it.

Q. I'm a female practitioner, and I want to borrow about $250,000 to start a practice. Do I qualify for any special small-business loan programs for women?

Dr. Bill Wodiske, a 1982 Washington State University graduate and owner of three veterinary hospitals in the greater Phoenix area, has worked with architects and contractors to complete five separate building projects, including three leasehold designs, a leasehold remodel, and a free-standing facility. And apparently, the fifth project was the charm: Mountain Park Ranch Animal Hospital and Pet Resort took home a Merit Award in Veterinary Economics' Hospital Design Competition.

At Cat Clinic of Destin, cats are considered top dog, and Dr. Dorothy Flynn designed her Florida hospital to accommodate feisty felines and their occasionally finicky owners.

As a senior in veterinary school, Dr. Glenn Park worked on a class project with an architecture student to create the hospital of his dreams. Eleven years later, Dr. Park made his project a reality. And his 10,000-square-foot Courtyard Animal Hospital won a merit award in Veterinary Economics' 2001 Hospital Design Competition.

When Dr. Marcel Florax set out to find a new practice site, he knew that not just any property would do. He wanted the flavor of his hospital to shine through. A 3,500-square-foot barn from the mid-1800s ended up being the perfect home for his 150-year-old practice--one of the oldest in England.