Dr. Amy Stone, chief of the UF Small Animal Hospital’s primary care and dentistry service, performs a dental procedure on a dog in the new facility, which opened in March.

Almost a decade after opening its award-winning small animal hospital, the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine has expanded its facilities to better train its veterinary students to meet professional demands and to accommodate the rapid growth of the hospital’s emergency and critical care service.

The $6 million, two-story addition adjacent to the main hospital opened in March, and provides more spacious accommodations for primary care and dentistry services, as well as additional offices for administrative personnel. The expansion adds approximately 12,000 square feet to the existing 100,000-square-foot building, and makes room for more emergency and critical care services.

“This expansion also allows our dental team to accommodate all of the dental procedures in a much more efficient way,” said Amy Stone, D.V.M., (’99) Ph.D., (02), a clinical assistant professor and chief of the hospital’s primary care and dentistry service. “This space has an extra dental station, as well as a way to separate the space from the primary care area during more specialized procedures.”

Since the small animal hospital opened in 2010, clients of the primary care and dentistry service have shared an entrance and lobby with emergency clients. The renovation separates these distinct areas of care and patient needs.

The original ground-floor space is being remodeled for efficiency and expanded emergency and critical care services to better accommodate emergency referrals from local and statewide veterinary clinicians and agencies. Pet patients, once stabilized, also can be seamlessly transferred to primary care as needed.