Renovate to revitalize

A renovation can bring new life to your hospital. It can show your clients and future clients the importance you place on the care of their pets. It can also show your team the importance you place on the work they do and their well-being. It can help you serve more clients and patients, and it can help you serve them better.

Regardless of whether you want to simply modernize and refresh your hospital or rework your entire building, there are some concepts that can help you make the most of the process.

Photo: Murphy Foto Imagery

The specialty services lobby at ARISE Veterinary Center in Queen Creek, Arizona.

Take advantage of technology

Digital record keeping for client files and artificial intelligence technologies for charting, handheld tablets, and wall-mounted computer screens can all help free up space within your hospital. This space savings can translate to a smaller reception desk that allows more room for client seating or maybe even an additional exam room. It can reduce the size of work surfaces needed in exam rooms, making these spaces more flexible for accommodating larger families or providing floor exams. Going digital will also help you keep surfaces in your hospital less cluttered, for a more professional appearance and a better working environment for your team.

Update the easy stuff

Small changes can have a big impact. Change the color on the walls. Add a new accent wall feature behind your front desk. Clad your front desk in a new (but durable) material and put a solid surface material on the counter. Update your lighting fixtures and switch to LEDs if you haven’t already. Change out the seating in the lobby and the exam rooms. Add artwork that is cohesive, wellthought- out, and modern throughout the building.

This might also be the time to consider a rebrand. If you are the new owner of an existing practice or you are looking to attract new clients, or it’s just time for a change, consider the message you want to send about who you are and the type of medicine you practice, and communicate that through the style of your front-of-house spaces. Match or complement the colors in your new branding to your building interior and exterior design.

Photo: Murphy Foto Imagery

The Humane Society of the Boulder Valley Veterinary Clinic in Boulder, Colorado.

Create more profit-making spaces

Not only can you attract new clients with a simple renovation, but you can also attract new clients and upsell existing clients by providing improved and new services. Can you live without office space to add a dental suite or another exam room or 2 to reduce wait times and/or increase the number of clients you can see? Is telemedicine a big part of your practice, and could you make it bigger by adding a small, dedicated phone room perfect for making video calls to clients? Do you have an underutilized boarding area that could be better as just a dog day care? Is there a specialty service that is underrepresented in your community that you could add to your services, such as diagnostics, physical therapy, or specialty surgery? There are new portable CT machines on the market, for example, that require very little space and are self-shielded.

Consider your staff

Creating or improving dedicated space for your team is also a great renovation investment. A doctor at Raintree Animal Hospital in Timnath, Colorado, intentionally placed a window into the dog day care from the break room so his staff could enjoy watching the dogs play. That kind of thoughtfulness can go a long way to hiring and retaining great team members. Include a covered or shaded outdoor patio with a table and chairs. Consider that different people decompress differently and include options for comfortable seating in your break room. Make sure the break room is well equipped. That could include simple things like an ice maker, a fancy espresso machine, an electric kettle, or a charging station.

Taking care of your team should extend beyond the break space. Natural light is important for everyone’s well-being. If you can’t punch holes in the exterior walls to bring more light in, perhaps you can add a Solatube skylight to bring light into interior spaces or replace some solid doors with Dutch doors or doors with windows. This also has the advantage of making communication across the hospital easier. Ergonomics are important too. Sit-stand desks, adjustable stools, and adjustable treatment surfaces can greatly improve the day-to-day life of your team members.

If you have the funds for a large renovation, remember that this is a major investment in the future of your practice and consider how you can best serve your clients and your community for years to come. Marry that investment to the way you personally want to care for clients and pets when deciding what changes to incorporate. Large budget or small, a renovation of your hospital can breathe new life into not only the physical spaces you practice in but to your practice of medicine as well.

Photo: Murphy Foto Imagery

Indoor/outdoor dog daycare at Raintree Animal Hospital in Timnath, Colorado.