Western U breaks ground on new veterinary center

POMONA, CALIF. —Western University's (Western U) veterinary college broke ground on its veterinary clinical center.

Funded by gifts from Banfield, The Pet Hospital and other corporate donors, the Veterinary Clinical Center will provide permanent facilities for classrooms, teaching laboratories, pet clinical practice and faculty offices.

The showpiece of the new building, Western U reports, will be the 8,000 square-foot-Banfield, The Pet Hospital and Wellness Center, a state of the art veterinary teaching hospital. The Banfield, The Pet Hospital and Wellness Center will include patient examination rooms, paperless records, central treatment room bays, imaging facilities (digital radiology and ultrasound), pharmacy, clinical laboratory, two surgery suites, isolation facilities and intensive care monitoring capabilities for pets.

"The addition of this comprehensive structure reflects the ongoing success of the veterinary program at Western U," says Philip Pumerantz, PhD, founding president of Western U.

"We are very grateful for our donors' investment in the education of future veterinarians," says Dr. Shirley Johnston, dean of Western U's veterinary college. "There is a great unmet need for veterinarians in this country, not only in the provision of health care to pets, but also in provision of care to horses, food animals, zoo animals and wildlife. Veterinarians also are important resources in public health, food safety and research arenas facing challenges such as avian influenza, mad cow disease and bioterrorism."

The charter class of 81 students is expected to graduate in May 2007 with keynote speaker actress Betty White of the Morris Animal Foundation.

The center includes:

• A two-story building with each floor measuring 15,600 square feet for a total of 31,200 square feet.

• Designed by architects with Ware Malcomb, Irvine, Calif., the building will be constructed by LCS Contractors.

• Approximately 8,000 square feet of the first floor will be designed as the Banfield, The Pet Hospital and Wellness Center, a full-service veterinary teaching hospital complete with examination rooms, central treatment room bays, pharmacy, imaging, clinical laboratory, two surgery suites, isolation facilities and intensive-care monitoring areas.

• The first floor will also house a multidisciplinary teaching laboratory, multimedia laboratory, companion animal diagnostic pathology facility, and student commons.

• The second floor will include a classroom for 150 students, three connecting seminar rooms, which have room for 25 seats each, conference rooms, and faculty, staff and graduate student offices.

Completion of the new building is expected by July 2007.