Vet School nears completion of $16M horse care clinic

A new multi-million dollar facility will help care for the Veterinary School’s horses.

The new James M. Moran, Jr. Critical Care Center at the Vet School’s New Bolton Center will become fully operational on June 1. The facility’s purpose is to provide better biosecurity and isolation for horses with infectious diseases in order to “increase capacity for critical care patients to provide the best patient care possible,” according to Communication Specialist at the New Bolton Center Sally Silverman.

The New Bolton Center, located in Kennett Square, realized the need to create a facility to reduce the risk of transferring infections during the 2004 Salmonella outbreak, explained Director of Biosecurity at the New Bolton Center Helen Aceto.

The Center chose to build a separate facility because of the large potential for cross-contamination in the intensive care wing, Facilities and Real Estate Services Design and Construction Project Manager Brenda Loewen added.

The funding for the $16,300,000 facility came mostly through state funding and partially from Elizabeth Moran’s donation in the name of her recently deceased son, according to FRES spokeswoman Jennifer Rizzi.

The money the state contributed made the design process more complicated because Penn had to “play by the state’s rules,” Loewen explained. There were different regulations to acquire architectural and construction service, FRES Director of Design and Construction Management Mariette Buchman added.

Even though this is a “slightly unusual project for Penn” all aspects of the construction have been successful, Buchman said.

Currently, the facility is “essentially 95 percent complete,” she said. “Everyone is excited about the opening of a facility that has been needed for long time,” Buchman added.

The architect Paul Steege was selected because he was familiar with the New Bolton facilities due to his previous architectural projects there, Loewen said.

The building was oriented from a biosecurity perspective ­— it is close to the main hospital and topographically lower to make it more private, according to University Architect David Hollenberg.

The specific design of the building is reminiscent of early 20th century historic buildings and is a combination of a barn and a medical hospital, Hollenberg said. “It looks like a quintessential barn on steroids.”

It is a single-story structure with two separate wings, one for isolation patients and one for colic patients. Both wings have their own procedure rooms, laundry rooms and small antechambers that are used for sterilization, according to Loewen.

The building has an environmentally controlled air circulation system and pressurized central corridors, according to Aceto. The stalls have plexiglass windows and web cameras, Aceto said.

“This facility is innovative and is another example of how we are setting the bar for biosecurity in veterinary hospitals,” Silverman said.

This article has been edited from its print version to reflect that most funding comes from the state.

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