WesternU Breaks Ground for New Veterinary Clinical Center

The College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at Western University of Health

Sciences began the construction process on the Veterinary Clinical Center

with a groundbreaking ceremony held on Tuesday, October 24, 2006. The

new building will be located on the downtown Pomona campus on the

northeast corner of Second and Linden Streets.

Funded by gifts from Banfield, The Pet Hospital, and other donors, the

Veterinary Clinical Center will be located one block east of the

Veterinary Medicine Center. It will provide permanent facilities for

classrooms, teaching laboratories, pet clinical practice and faculty

offices that are now being provided in temporary facilities or those

shared with other colleges on campus. The showpiece of the new

building 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 WesternU,”” said Philip Pumerantz,

PhD, founding president of WesternU.

Banfield, The Pet Hospital, a national, neighborhood veterinary practice,

treats more than 90,000 cases per week, at approximately 600 pet

hospitals in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. All

patient data is combined centrally and analyzed continually by

researchers at Banfield, WesternU and other veterinary colleges to

improve the way pets are cared for around the world. Banfield ‘s vision

of providing affordable health care to pets of the quality we expect for

ourselves, has been an important match with founding principles of the

College of Veterinary Medicine that include student-centered learning,

reverence for life and clinical education through strategic partnerships.

“”We are very grateful for our donors’ investment in the education of

future veterinarians,”” said Dr. Shirley Johnston, dean of the College of

Veterinary Medicine. “”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 and food

safety.””

Guests at the groundbreaking ceremony included Dr. Scott Campbell,

president and CEO of Banfield, The Pet Hospital, Banfield Senior Vice

Presidents Dr. Will Novak and Richard Norris, Dr. Hugh Lewis, president

of Data Savant, and Tomas Morales, Provost of California State

Polytechnic University, Pomona.

“”It is very exciting to be able to partner with such a great institution,

Dean and faculty to help students learn to be the best veterinarians they

can be,”” said Dr. Campbell. “”Dean Johnston and her team are setting a new

standard for veterinary education that is clearly being watched by

veterinary colleges around the world.””

The Charter Class of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Western

University will graduate in May 2007, with keynote speaker actress Betty

White of the Morris Animal Foundation.

Fast facts about the new Veterinary Clinical Center:

1. The new building includes two floors, each measuring 15,600

square feet, for a total of 31,200 square feet.

2. Exterior dimensions are 120′ x 130, with the main entrance facing

West.

3. The building was designed by architects with Ware Malcomb,

Irvine, CA, and will be built by LCS Contractors.

4. 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.

5. Students learning in the Banfield Wellness Clinic will have

access to more than 260 Banfield Learning Center teaching modules, as

well as a psychomotor skills area for models used in mastering clinical

skills.

6. The first floor will also house a multidisciplinary teaching

laboratory, multimedia laboratory, companion animal diagnostic pathology

facility, and student commons.

7. 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.

8. Completion of the new building is expected by July 2007.

9. The College of Veterinary Medicine opened in August 2003 as the

28th veterinary school in the country, and the first to be opened in more

than 20 years.

10. Eighty-one students, in the charter class, will graduate with the

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree in May 2007, in a ceremony at

the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

11. The College of Veterinary Medicine at Western University is

accredited by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical

Association.