The ribbon cutting and community open house for the new Lloydminster Animal Hospital showcased the unique talent of building a comprehensive practice to serve the medical needs of our little pets and bigger animals all under one roof.
“The firm that we used had to draw their small animal and equine team together to help us design something under one roof. And a lot of the bovine design for the cattle area we did ourselves,” says Dr. Becky Newman, veterinarian and co-owner.
Newman has been a veterinarian for 26 years with over two decades spent at the hospital. Conversations for the new facility started about five years ago.
“We were just really running out of space,” says Newman
The new facility features six examination rooms, two surgery rooms, a dental suite, X-ray and ultrasound rooms and a comfort room in some 15,000 sq. ft. That’s about twice the size of the previous location.
For the large animals, there are three box stalls to keep horses overnight, a padded surgery suite, three equine exam rooms, a large cattle area and three outdoor pens.
“We did work with a veterinary-specific architectural firm to help design the practice in terms of the flow and how things will flow through the clinic, including some of the newer trends in design and style,” says Newman. “It is an anomaly to have a mixed practice this large. We are very proud of how it all turned out.”
The staff of 43 people includes 12 veterinarians, 19 registered veterinary technicians (RVT) and 12 support staff. The RVTs are either graduates from Lakeland College or Olds College.
With the increased space, the team will be able to manage a number of procedures on a larger scale.
“We were just really out of space in our old facility. We were limited in the number of surgeries we could do because we only had one surgery suite. Now just having space to accommodate all that and allow for growth. Our old clinic lasted us for 43 years. We are hoping this one is here for that length of time and longer,” says Newman.
The Animal Hospital which is located at 8296- 45 Street on Lloydminster west side has a conference room that holds about 50 people. It will be made available to agriculture producer groups and 4H clubs for community meetings.
An equine information night is also in the works with more details to be shared on the hospital’s social media.
Giving back
The open house on Saturday, Sept. 26 was also an opportunity to have a barbecue in support of Second Chance Animal Rescue Society or SCARS. The non-profit is based north of Edmonton but does a lot of work across Alberta, including Lloydminster.
“They do a ton of work in our community,” says Newman noting the collaborations the hospital has with local animal shelters.
“We really felt that we have never acknowledged SCARS and the work that they do. They spay and neuter a lot of dogs in our area. They look after a lot of the stray cat population in Lloydminster that would be injured, and maybe Border Paws would not have space or funding for,” says Newman.
Volunteers with the group note the large number of animals from the Lloydminster area that go back to SCARS for its foster and adoption programs.
“They take around 600 animals from the Lloydminster area annually,” says Veralyn Kien, who volunteers with the group.” People need to spay and neuter. There are too many animals and not enough homes.”
SCARS is also hosting a Chase the Ace with more information available on its website.
