Abstract:
The Delaware Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine is a complete medical facility for the treatment of large and small companion animals. Analogous with a modern human hospital, the central hospital facility is intended to be an extension of the private veterinary clinical practices located throughout the community. The facility will provide 24 hour emergency treatment, complete corrective surgical procedures and supervised extended care for the animal populations of Muncie, Indiana and the surrounding Delaware County area. These services will be supported by comprehensive laboratory, radiology, pharmacy, pathology and research library areas. The hospital will also contain 100 cages, 20 indoor runs and 10 large animal stalls within its projected 28,000 gross square feet. The standards and program requirements are structured within and from the guidelines set forward by the American Animal Hospital Association.The site on which the hospital is to be located is on the northern fringe of Muncie in a basically residential area. Selection of the site was based primarily on its central location within the county with immediate access to the major transportation network and the potential characteristics of the site itself.The client was a hypothetical corporation set up by a majority of the practicing veterinarians in the Delaware County area. Analogous with modern medicine the individual veterinarians will soon have to pool their resources in order to provide the high level of care now possible because of rapid advances made continually in veterinary medical science. Only through the use of a central modern fully equipped mixed practice facility could the economic realities and the high standard of practice be compatible.
