BY ANNA GUIDO
Enquirer Contributor
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP -- Imagine a veterinarian's office with separate waiting rooms for dogs and cats, an isolation room for contagious animals and a room where clients can visit privately with their sick pets.
Then imagine indoor and outdoor exercise areas for canine and feline patients, a grooming shop, an attached kennel with sound barrier walls, and every other veterinary device that could be considered cutting edge.
Two Cincinnati veterinarians have built such a facility at 6823 Yankee Road, on the corner of Dutchland Boulevard in Yankee Commons.
"We don't want to have to remodel or expand, and we want everyone to be comfortable," said Liberty Veterinary Hospital co-owner Robyn Collins. "We figure if we're happy, our employees will be happy, and if we're all happy, our clients will be happy."
Mrs. Collins, 33, and partner Amy Johnstone, 32, spent $1 million to build the 84,000 square-foot facility. It opened Oct. 2 and is the first of its kind in the area.
Mrs. Collins of Middletown and Mrs. Johnstone of Hamilton County's Springfield Township worked together at County Animal Hospital on U.S. 42 in Mason before venturing into practice for themselves. Both have Cincinnati roots and are graduates of the Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine.
Mrs. Johnstone said she and her partner are among a growing number of women practicing veterinary medicine, once a predominantly male field.
"When we graduated in the late 1980s, our graduating class was about 50 percent women and 50 percent men," Mrs. Johnstone said. "Now, 75 to 80 percent of graduating veterinarians are women."
State-of-the-art animal hospitals like this are a growing trend nationally. The trade journal, Veterinary Economics, holds an animal-hospital design competition annually that Mrs. Johnstone and Mrs. Collins plan to enter.
Most of Liberty Veterinary Hospital's features take into consideration the needs of patients, clients and staff:
It has a play area for clients' children because 75 percent of animal caretakers are women with children.
There is an intensive-care unit with a window to allow staff to monitor seriously ill animals or those recovering from surgery. The animal hospital also has facilities to allow employees to stay overnight with sick animals.
Liberty Veterinary Hospital also has a boarding and recreation area for cats, called "Kitty City" -- complete with climbing units, cat toys and a full-size window overlooking a courtyard with trees, bird feeders and a butterfly garden for cats' viewing pleasure.
Liberty Veterinary Hospital plans its grand opening Oct. 31. A pet costume contest will be held in conjunction with the festivities. Details will be announced. Information, call the hospital: 755-9700.
