I want to tell you something the photographs in this magazine can't show.
They can show you the surgical suites. They can show you the students at the table. They can show you the families in the waiting room. What they can't show you is what 40 years of extraordinary people, working in an ordinary building, adds up to.
A team that referring veterinarians across Virginia trust with their most complicated cases. Graduates practicing across the breadth of Virginia's counties, from the Appalachians to Chesapeake Bay. Some 16,000 dogs and cats a year, treated by people who chose to be here because the work matters.
Now there's a chance to match the building to the people inside it. The Veterinary Teaching Hospital expansion will move forward this year. The first floor is funded.
The architectural plans for the second floor exist. The engineering is complete. Eight new surgical suites, designed and ready to build. What they need is philanthropic commitment by early June , when the final project scope is submitted for Board of Visitors approval. After that date, the cost rises by $4 million or more.
This is an investment in something permanent — a place where students train, surgeons practice, and families get the answer they drove here for. A place that will matter for the life of the building.
If you are in a position to be part of it, I would welcome the conversation.