Progress has begun on the James M. Moran, Jr., Critical Care Center at Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine's New Bolton Center campus in Kennett Square, just west of Philadelphia.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place Oct. 17. The building is named in memory of Elizabeth R. Moran's son, James, who died in April 2008. He was a Thoroughbred owner and breeder, businessman, and philanthropist.

Major funding for the center was provided by Moran's mother and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The center will be part of the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals and will serve high-risk patients. It will have two wings, one with antechambers dedicated to patients in isolation and one for patients with colic. The 18,540-square-foot facility will be the largest clinical addition to the hospital since the completion of the C. Mahlon Kline Orthopedic Center in 1972. The center will be located on a biosecure area and is expected to be completed this year.

"This new critical care center will help ensure that our most critically ill patients have the optimal housing for their care. This will improve treatment of these critical patients at the same time that it will allow their separation from each other and less seriously ill patients elsewhere in the hospital," said Dr. Dean W. Richardson, Charles W. Raker Professor of Surgery and chair of New Bolton Center's Section of Surgery.