UGA $98M Veterinary Medical Learning Center Preparing to Open in 2015

In March 2013, construction crews at the University of Georgia, Athens began working on the university's new Veterinary Medical Learning Center. Now, almost 2 years later, the facility is in the final stages of construction and is preparing to open in March 2015. 

Veterinary medicine is a popular program for students in Athens, Georgia, and the current veterinary teaching hospital at UGA is outdated and too small to handle the demand of this growing program. The new facility will be the newest veterinary hospital to open in the United States in over 20 years, and will replace the 35 year old current UGA veterinary teaching hospital. 

(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

This new $98 million center will be 300,000 square feet, have about 55 stalls to house large animals, and will be comprised of 5 buildings. 

• The Teaching Hospital will be at the heart of the center and comprise about 200,000 of the 300,000 square foot complex. With such a large hospital expansion, it will now be able to treat more patients and educate more students. The hospital will be a place for students to learn, researchers and doctors to work, as well as a place for people to bring in all types of animals for treatments, such as horses, cats and dogs, and exotic animals like lizards, snakes and birds. 

• The academic building will have classrooms, seminar rooms and a large auditorium for educating veterinary students, as well as dining areas for students and staff. 

• The isolation area for large animals will be used to isolate animals that have contagious diseases so they can be treated without infecting other animals at the hospital.  

• The outdoor arena will be used to evaluate the performance and lameness of animals. 

• The field services building will study Theriogenology, or reproduction, of large animals and farm animals. 

The new facilities will not only focus on providing excellent care for all the animals they treat, but also on functioning in a greener way. There will be a large emphasis on natural lighting throughout the facility, as well as a rainwater collection system and nearby wells that will supply water to the area to reduce the use of city water. 

The new UGA facility will treat all kinds of animals. (Images all courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: Bird, Horse, Pig)

The grand opening of this Veterinary Medical Learning Center is planned for February, with the hospital scheduled to begin operations on March 18, 2015.

This date coincides nicely with the 16th Annual BioResearch Product Faire™ Event happening at UGA on March 4, 2015. This annual event gives lab suppliers the opportunity to demonstrate their lab products on campus directly to life science researchers at the university. At last years event, 152 appropriate researchers, post docs, professors, lab managers, grad students and purchasing agents attended the event from 30 different departments, and a similar turnout is expected in 2015.

The new center will help strengthen UGA's position as a top research institution. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia)

The University of Georgia, Athens is a growing research institution with new buildings being constructed, like the Veterinary Medical Learning Center, and many departments receiving large amounts of funding to support research work. In the 2014 fiscal year, UGA received nearly $45.5 million in life science funding from the NIH. The following departments received substantial amounts of this funding: 

• Microbiology, Immunology, Virology - $5 million
• Pharmacology - $4.2 million
• Biochemistry - $4.2 million
• Biology - $2 million
• Genetics - $1.7 million 

*Data collected from the NIH RePorter. 

With so much life science funding, different departments and research labs at UGA have the means to purchase new lab equipment. For scientific supply companies interested in marketing lab products to active, highly funded researchers in Athens, Georgia, consider attending the 16th Annual BioResearch Product Faire™ Event coming up on March 4, 2015. To learn more about exhibiting at the Athens event, to view pictures from past events, and to enter to win a free exhibit space, visit the button below!