Welcoming veterinary hospital design into dvm360 magazine

As a former editor of Veterinary Economics magazine, I have a soft spot for all things veterinary hospital design. So I was thrilled when we decided to move the profiles of award-winning veterinary hospitals into the pages of dvm360 once Veterinary Economics and Veterinary Medicinemerged to form Vetted magazine.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Veterinary Economics' Hospital Design empire, I'll break it down. First is the Hospital Design Competition. The is an annual contest in which private practices that have completed some kind of building project in the past three years submit their project to Veterinary Economics (which continues to live on online, by the way). Entering the competition involves filling out a highly detailed form describing every last detail of the project, plus submitting photos of almost every room in the practice, plus exterior shots and the floor plan.

A panel of veterinary architects, practice owners and management consultants evaluate these entries in excruciating detail (the process takes two days) and choose those that reflect the best practices and innovations in veterinary design. One is crowned the Hospital of the Year, and the rest are what we call Merit Award winners. These hospitals are profiled in our magazines-for years in Veterinary Economics, and now in dvm360.

Next up is the Hospital Design Conference. Held in conjunction with CVC Kansas City, this event is designed to take veterinary practice owners and managers through every step of planning, designing and building a veterinary hospital, whether a 20,000-square-foot specialty center or a small leasehold tucked into the corner of a suburban shopping plaza.

Nothing is left unexamined: obtaining financing, working with public planning and zoning committees, managing odor, choosing paint colors, and making choices that maximize patient health and well-being. Veterinarians who attend the Hospital Design conference once often return the next time they're ready to build or expand-often twice or even three times.

And then there's everything else. On dvm360.com you'll find a whole subsite dedicated to veterinary hospital design-photo galleries of exam rooms, reception areas, treatment suites and so on, videos with experts on the latest trends in flooring materials, quick tips for what you can do with an extra $500, write-ups from the conference and much more.

So whether you're planning a big construction project, are an HGTV or DIY Network junkie, or just like to gaze at beautiful pictures of beautiful veterinary hospitals, we're sure you'll find something you'll like-in print, online, or live and in person.