Think of it as a Mayo Clinic for the furry.
The staff does.
"We model ourselves after the Mayo Clinic," said veterinarian James Boulay, co-owner of the Veterinary Specialty Center of Tucson. "When you go to Mayo everybody's right there and they all work together to make everything happen in one place.
"Here you can see all those doctors at one time. A lot of times the client will meet in one room with everyone together. Everyone gets their opinion in."
And now that an expansion project is complete, Veterinary Specialty Center is the largest animal-care clinic in Southern Arizona, based on the building size and the number of doctors and support staff, said Boulay and co-owner, veterinarian Barbara Gores.
The bulk of the expansion and renovation of the state-of-the-art animal hospital was completed in late 2010. The cost was $4.1 million for the building, not including land purchase, landscaping, parking lot, etc., according to a Veterinary Economics publication from October 2011.
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The final element, a physical-rehabilitation facility that includes an underwater treadmill to treat dogs with joint, muscle and tendon problems and arthritis, those recovering from spinal surgery or paralysis, and canines who need to lose weight, was finished this year.
The addition to the original vet hospital has more than tripled the square footage of the practice. William Paul Stamm Architect Inc. of Tucson designed the original building and the addition, both of which won design awards.
Solar panels that double as covered parking behind the building were added in January 2011 and offset the cost of providing electricity for such a large operation.
"Being open 365 days a year, we never shut down. Our energy draw is pretty high," Gores said. "In a place like Southern Arizona where you can really use the sun, we put in solar (panels) that handle 40 percent of our energy needs."
The nearly 32,000-square-foot hospital has 27 vets, including seven interns, and 57 support staffers. If a client has a pet with multiple health issues, vets from the various specialties can be consulted at once if necessary.
Because they are a multi-specialty practice, cases are referred to them from throughout Arizona and from other states. Clients who bring their pets to the Veterinary Specialty Center arrive during an emergency or with a referral from their primary-care veterinarian.
"We are of a different model," Gores said. "All of our doctors are here full time. They aren't consultants who fly in one day a month or every other week. That's probably a little unique from the other hospitals in Tucson and Phoenix and the state."
The original building, which measured just under 10,000 square feet, was completed in 2004.
"We grew really quickly and were getting pinched for space," Gores said.
They had planned to expand the business eventually and had already purchased an adjacent lot.
"It happened a little quicker than we planned and it was a little scary that shortly after we broke ground, the economy tanked," Gores said. "We just forged ahead and weren't doing it under as much pressure as we had to get the first building open."
Added Boulay: "We built a little bit more than we probably needed, but we were able to build and design so that we have room to grow a little bit. It gives us enough for the next 10 or 15 years. Barb and I are pretty much done growing and expanding the practice. We have pretty much everything we want or need."
AT A GLANCE
• What: Veterinary Specialty Center of Tucson
• Address: 4909 N. La Canada Drive
• Phone: 795-9955
• Web site: www.vscot.com
• Hours: Around the clock, 365 days a year
Center's honors
The Veterinary Specialty Center of Tucson has won awards for building design as well as customer care, including:
• 2011 Design Excellence Award, Commercial Interiors Group, from American Association of Interior Designers
• 2011 Merit Award for Hospital Design, William Paul Stamm Architect Inc., from Veterinary Economics magazine
• 2010 Copper Cactus Award for Community Service from Wells Fargo
• 2008 Outstanding Customer Service award from Southern Arizona Smart Inspiring Enterprise (SASIE)
• 2008 Copper Cactus Award for Best Place to Work from Wells Fargo
• 2008 Arizona Companies to Watch award from Comerica Bank
• 2006 Merit Award for Hospital Design from Veterinary Economics magazine
• 2006 Best Vet award from the Tucson Weekly Best of Tucson
• 2006 Best Mini Oasis xeriscape award, Boxhill Landscape Design, from Tohono Chul Park and the Arizona Department of Water Resources
Specialty Center's services
Doctors on staff at the Veterinary Specialty Center of Tucson are experienced in:
• Behavior
• Physical therapy
• Dentistry/oral surgery
• Dermatology
• Diagnostic imaging (radiology, ultrasound, CT, MRI)
• Emergency and critical-care treatment
• Internal medicine
• Neurology/neurosurgery
• Oncology
• Ophthalmology
• General and orthopedic surgery
• Radioactive Iodine 131 therapy
• Valley fever
Contact reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or at 573-4191.