Purdue to build new veterinary teaching hospital
Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is moving forward with plans to build a new, $108 million veterinary teaching hospital.
The Indiana General Assembly recently approved $73 million in funding for the project, and the university is contributing $35 million.
"The infusion of $108 million into our college will allow for expansion of our highly successful engagement, diversity, and clinical research programs," said Dr. Willie Reed, dean of the veterinary college.
Once construction is approved by the Purdue board of trustees, the project could break ground as soon as early 2020.
State funding comes on the heels of a recent accreditation change for the veterinary college. The AVMA Council on Education placed Purdue on probationary accreditation during its March meeting. Probationary accreditation is granted to a college with one or more major deficiencies that have an impact on student learning or safety. The veterinary college must submit reports to the COE every six months and correct the deficiencies within two years. The decision was specifically tied to issues with Standard 3 (Physical Facilities and Equipment) and Standard 2 (Finances).
JAVMA News caught up with Dr. Reed to discuss the funding for the new teaching hospital and the accreditation decision. The responses have been lightly edited.
Q. How does it feel to receive funding from Indiana for the new teaching hospital?
A. It is very gratifying to have the strong support of Purdue University and the Indiana legislature for our college. This reaffirms the importance of having a college of veterinary medicine for the protection of animal and human health in Indiana.
Q. What changes and renovations are planned?
A. The project will allow us to replace our equine and farm animal hospitals and expand our small animal hospital to address an increasing caseload. We will be able to expand services such as primary care, rehabilitation, hemodialysis, oncology, and cardiology. We hope to also incorporate state-of-the-art smart technology resulting in the most digitized hospital in the country.
Q. Was the COE accreditation change to probationary status directly related to the hospital needing repairs and changes?
A. Yes, there were a number of deficiencies that needed to be addressed to improve the learning environment for our students.
Q. Did the probationary accreditation decision motivate the state to approve the funding?
A. It is likely that the change provided evidence that our facilities were in need of updating.
Q. What took so long to get the money from the state?
A. Once our hospital project became a high priority for the university, the legislature was very supportive of our request to help fund the cost of a new hospital, but because of the high cost of the project, it took some time to develop a funding plan.