Construction began on the $20.9 million state-of-the-art addition to the College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital and associated renovations in spring 2011. The grand opening celebration was held September 21, 2013. The project included more than 85,000 square feet of new and renovated space.
The Farm Animal Hospital includes standing and recumbent surgery suites, species-specific (bovine, small ruminant and swine, and camelids) wards and treatment rooms, new cattle-working facilities, and a new facility dedicated to the rehabilitation of injured livestock.
The Equine Hospital and the 32,000-square-foot Equine Performance and Rehabilitation Center (EPRC) were finished in February 2013. In addition to an isolation ward, intensive care unit including dedicated neonatal (foal) ICU stalls, and four surgical theaters, the renovation also included an advanced diagnostic imaging center offering spiral CT, nuclear medicine, and MRI. The EPRC housed an arena, in-ground underwater treadmill, free walker, cold saltwater hydrotherapy unit, solarium, and a podiatry center. The architectural firm for the project was Cope Associates—Architecture of Knoxville.
The additions and renovations were critical to recapturing full accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association. In April 2008 the College of Veterinary Medicine participated in an AVMA Council of Education (COE) accreditation site visit. The COE noted several college strengths, including faculty and student support for college administration, and the recently completed Small Animal Hospital addition, which enhanced the college’s academic programs and provided premier care in canine rehabilitation and physical therapy, radiation and medical oncology, and avian and zoological medicine.
However, the COE awarded the college limited accreditation status (rather than full accreditation) primarily as a result of some facilities deficiencies in the Large Animal Veterinary Hospital. The Large Animal Veterinary Hospital had not received major renovation or building infrastructure repairs since the hospital was built. The COE required that the college improve its large animal isolation facilities, the large animal surgery and surgical preparation areas that were no longer contemporary, and address the issue of worn flooring in the Large Animal Veterinary Hospital. The addition and renovations specifically addressed these issues and additionally provided facilities that would make the college’s facilities world-class.