Banfield christens Western University hospital

POMONA, CALIF.—Western University and Banfield, The Pet Hospital(tm) officials celebrated the groundbreaking of its 6,000-square-foot veterinary teaching hospital.

Construction for Banfield's permanent 6,000-square-foot on-campus hospital will be completed for the Fall of the 2006 school year. In the meantime, Banfield has provided a temporary hospital to make available clinical teaching facilities. The celebration was highlighted by a ribbon-cutting ceremony and will include hospital tours, an all-campus barbecue and commemorative gifts.

"This is a one-of-a-kind partnership between the nation's largest private veterinary practice and the first new U.S. school of veterinary medicine in 20 years," says Banfield Chairman and CEO Scott Campbell, DVM.

"By investing in the provision of high-quality practical experiences for veterinary students, it is our hope that together Banfield and Western University can help produce some of the most skilled, confident and efficient new graduates in our profession."The school admitted its first class of veterinary students in August 2003, and the second class will begin classes in August. This new on-campus teaching hospital will be used in the curriculum for Western University School of Veterinary Medicine, and is being completely built with funds donated by Banfield.

Banfield also will build or remodel at least four hospitals within a 30-minute drive of Western's campus for clinical rotations for third- and fourth-year students.

Banfield Medical Director Amy Raines, DVM, has been appointed associate professor and medical director for the Western University hospital.

Raines also will oversee the Banfield hospitals near the university, which will be used for clinical rotations.

"We are all very excited to be involved in shaping the future of veterinarians," Raines says. "The faculty and staff at Western University of Health Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine are all very talented and tremendously committed to providing the best education to these wonderful students. The Banfield doctors and team members are also very proud to be part of this new and exciting curriculum."

Since 1999, Dr. Hugh Lewis, Banfield's senior vice president of practice development and former dean of Purdue University's School of Veterinary Medicine, has been a part of the Advisory Council that assisted the college through the curriculum development process. The college's curriculum gives first and second-year veterinary students the opportunity to gain firsthand experience in the on-campus Banfield hospital, actively participating in wellness examinations and preventive care treatment.