Jason Nitsch ’14/Texas A&M University School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Texas A&M University’s Small Animal Teaching Hospital provides specialized care for patients from all 50 states.
The Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) has reached an important milestone in its plan to build a new Clinical Veterinary Teaching and Research Complex (CVTRC), partnering with Page, a full-service architecture, engineering and design firm, and Texas-owned Vaughn Construction to design and build its new facility.
“We are delighted to be initiating the design phase for our long-awaited new Clinical Veterinary Teaching and Research Complex,” said Dr. John R. August, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine. “We look forward to working with Page, Vaughn Construction, and the outstanding faculty and staff in our current Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH) to create a new small animal hospital that will meet not only our needs and the needs for clinical instruction and advanced training but also the needs of the patients and clients who depend on the SATH for state-of-the-art care for their beloved companion animals.”
“Our students, faculty and staff are extremely passionate about what they do, but the building they work in is over 40 years old,” said Dr. Stacy Eckman, the associate dean for hospital operations and chief executive officer of the school’s Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH). “It’s much older than the hospital facilities at our peer institutions, and it no longer reflects the VMBS’ nationally ranked curriculum and exceptional patient care.”
Page brings more than 125 years of experience designing complex projects that make significant impact on the communities it serves. As a nationally recognized leader in academic medicine design, Page has worked with more than 400 institutions and has supported more than 18 million square feet of space in the Texas Medical Center, including the Paula and Joseph C. (Rusty) Walter III Tower and Centennial Tower at Houston Methodist; the Texas A&M University School of Engineering Medicine; the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Medicine; and the Surgical Hospital at The University of North Carolina.
For this project, Page will collaborate with Foil Wyatt Architects, one of the country’s preeminent veterinary medicine design firms, to ensure that the new state-of-the-art facility meets the needs of patients, clinical faculty and staff, and students at the hospital.
“Page is proud to partner with Texas A&M University and the VBMS team on the new Clinical Veterinary Teaching and Research Complex. We hold Texas A&M’s veterinary program in the highest regard and understand the lasting impact this facility will have on the university, its students, and the community it serves, both animals and humans alike,” said Laura Vargas, principal, science and technology director for Page. “The leading-edge care provided by these professionals is unparalleled, and we are honored by the trust placed in us to deliver an exceptional design that will support veterinary medicine for decades to come.”
Vaughn Construction is a Texas-based commercial general contractor and construction manager that specializes in building complex and time-sensitive construction projects of any size for health care, higher education and research. Its projects have included the Texas A&M Global Health Research Building, the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in College Station, the Texas A&M Nursing Education and Research Building currently being constructed at the Higher Education Center at McAllen, the Zachry Engineering Education Complex, Texas Medical Center’s TMC3 Collaborative Building, and the Texas A&M Instructional Laboratory and Innovative Learning Building, among others.
“Vaughn Construction has a strong 25-year history of delivering complex projects for the Texas A&M University System with our shared goal of providing exceptional facilities for students, faculty and the community,” said Judd Blume, Vaughn Construction director. “As a company with many Aggie graduates, including myself, we are always excited about the opportunity to pursue another legacy project on the main campus. We are extremely honored to have the opportunity to build a new facility for one of the top veterinary medicine programs in the country, which will continue to elevate this standard. We are very thankful to be a part of this project team.”
The CVTRC is a project that has been a long time in the making but has generated new momentum under the leadership of August, who became VMBS dean in the summer of 2020.
In 2022, the VMBS reached several key milestones allowing the school to proceed with plans for the new small animal hospital, including receiving funding from Texas A&M University and the Texas Legislature. In March 2023, the VMBS received a $20 million lead gift from Linda and Dennis Clark ’68, business owners with a dedicated love for animals and Texas A&M University. This extraordinary gift brings the total fundraising to over $30 million, significantly advancing toward the goal of $60 million to profoundly impact our faculty, clinicians, students and programs.
“We are extraordinarily appreciative of the financial generosity that has allowed us to move forward with this once-in-a-generation project,” August said. “The new small animal hospital facility will help us expand our ability to provide teaching, specialist training, research and patient care of the very highest quality, setting the standard nationwide for academic veterinary medicine.”
Once construction is complete, the CVTRC will be on the corner of Raymond Stotzer Parkway and Agronomy Road, near the current SATH building. For more information, or to learn how you can support the new CVTRC, visit nextgenvethospital.tamu.edu.
Courtesy of Texas A&M University School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
