Vol. 38, No. 18

1-4-2005
By: Leslie Gabel

New large animal clinic to provide state-of-the-art services, learning

Construction of the Ohio State Large Animal Services Clinic in Marysville is on track, and the new facility could open as soon as late winter. The 10,000 square-foot building will include a surgery suite, pharmacy, waiting area and conference room, plus a classroom and housing for veterinary students.

The new facility, located just north of Marysville on seven acres of land off Home County Road, is important to the large animal clinic’s 840 clients in 13 Ohio counties. Since its purchase from John Andreas in the late 1960s, the clinic has outgrown its original facility off Milford Road, and expansion has become impossible due to urban sprawl.

The current clinic provides large animal clients with complete medical and surgical services, and herd-oriented production medicine services. In addition, the practice offers year-round, 24-hour emergency services and client care. The OSU Milk Quality Laboratory also is located there.
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“Our purpose for existence is to provide a superior education experience for our students. To do this, we must provide the highest quality veterinary services to our clientele,” said Kent Hoblet, chair of the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. “With the new clinic, we will provide state-of-the-art large animal veterinary services to the best of our abilities.”

Plans for the new facility have been in the works for at least the past five years, Hoblet said.

Ohio State is one of six Big Ten universities with a college of veterinary medicine, and the only college among those with such an extensive ambulatory clinic, Hoblet said. “The Tufts College of Veterinary Medicine in Massachusetts has a remote ambulatory clinic in Connecticut, and the University of California at Davis has a similar one in Tulare,” he said. “Ours, however, is unique in that all of our students must complete a required rotation there.”

The Ohio State Large Animal Services Clinic is also unique in the way the practice runs like a real-world business, Hoblet added. “About 75-80 percent of the entire costs required to fund the operation, including faculty salaries, are acquired from proceeds from the practice,” he said.

“Only 15.6 percent of the clinic’s funding is provided from the College of Veterinary Medicine,” said Melissa Lamb-Peale, director of public relations and communications.

Funding for the construction of the new facility came from a combination of sources, including the sale of buildings and land at the clinic’s former location, with the balance coming from college funds in support of teaching programs. Naming opportunities are available for the clinic building, and these funds will be used for an endowment for building maintenance, she said.

Four faculty and three administrative staff currently are assigned to the clinic. The new facility’s capability to permit more “haul-in” work, particularly equine clientele, may require another staff position in the future, Hoblet said.

The new facility also will provide housing space for up to 12 veterinary students who assist the faculty with medical services as part of a required fourth-year rotation, allowing them to gain hands-on experience in large-animal medicine. “This experience gives OSU graduates a distinct advantage and makes them a more valuable resource in their respective communities, regardless of whether or not they practice large-animal medicine,” Hoblet said.

Hoblet said there are a number of committees from Big Ten veterinary medicine programs looking at sharing clinical experiences, which means students from other colleges may be seeking practice in Marysville.

This could someday increase the learning experiences available to students, and could decrease costs, since colleges would not have to duplicate efforts, Hoblet said. “For example, the University of Illinois could send students to Marysville and we could send students there for the zoo and conservation medicine rotation they have with Chicago-area zoological parks and aquariums,” he said.\0\0

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