Virginia Tech Moves Forward with Plans to Expand Veterinary Teaching Hospital

Virginia Tech is moving ahead with plans to renovate and expand its Veterinary Teaching Hospital after the university’s board of visitors approved initial funding for the project. The board authorized $4.3 million on Wednesday to finalize the designs and working drawings, marking the first step in a larger project expected to cost $43 million in total.

Once completed, the expanded small-animal section of the hospital will feature 25,000 square feet of renovated space and an additional 32,000 square feet added to the existing Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine facility on Duck Pond Drive, located in the southwest corner of the Blacksburg campus.

The planned renovations will introduce new exam and surgery rooms, along with expanded spaces for intensive care, physical therapy, and the hospital pharmacy. These improvements will focus specifically on the small-animal section of the facility. The hospital also serves large animals in a separate area of the building.

Established in 1978, the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine has outgrown its current teaching clinic, according to hospital director Tanya LeRoith.

“When the small-animal hospital was originally built in 1987, the veterinary school had about 80 students per class. Today, that number has grown to approximately 127 students per class,” LeRoith said. Veterinary students gain hands-on clinical experience at the hospital, particularly during the latter half of their four-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program.

“We continuously have students in the clinic,” LeRoith added, highlighting the importance of the hospital’s role in student education.

As the veterinary school has expanded, so too has the teaching hospital’s range of services, including emergency care and specialties such as dermatology, ophthalmology, and cardiology. The small-animal clinic now treats around 13,000 dogs and cats each year, with 1,900 of these animals requiring overnight care.

“We’ve been pretty creative in utilizing our limited space, but accommodating more clients has become increasingly challenging due to space constraints,” LeRoith said. “Even finding an office for private conversations with supervisors can be difficult.”

To support the expansion, the veterinary school launched a fundraising campaign in 2022, with Virginia Tech pledging $7 million toward the total cost. As of Wednesday, it remains unclear how much has been raised from donors, as a spokesperson from the veterinary school had not yet responded to inquiries.

LeRoith emphasized that the expansion is crucial for the veterinary school to remain competitive in attracting both students and faculty. Other veterinary schools, such as the University of Wisconsin, have recently undertaken similar projects, with Wisconsin doubling its small-animal hospital after opening a new expansion this spring.

The groundbreaking for Virginia Tech’s project is not expected for another two years. As the planning process continues, special consideration will be given to the hospital’s unique patient needs. “We don’t have the ability to shut down the hospital during the renovation,” LeRoith noted, particularly emphasizing the need to minimize disruptions for cat patients, who are especially sensitive to loud noises.