WHAT A MESS!  Well, it’s kinda’ been a mess for a while, but it seems like it’s even worse now!  We moved into our “temporary” reception area about a week ago now so we can build our new reception/waiting area, and it certainly has been a challenge!  I think that the only thing keeping us going sometimes is knowing how great it’s going to look . . . and how much more functional the area will be when we’re all done!  Just wish it were all completed tomorrow!

At the same time, we’re settling in nicely to our new Treatment area, and very much enjoying the new surroundings in our new Surgery Suite, new Treatment/Work area, new Lab, and new Radiology Suite!  We’ve still got some minor “tweaking” to go . . . but it’s just a nice place to work!

We’re gonna’ continue to push forward, fight back the mess of construction, and continue to build our new, modern veterinary hospital at Mt. Nittany!  More to follow . . .

Dr. Bob

Greetings from Las Vegas!  I’m here for the week attending the Western Veterinary Conference 2010.  This is one of the largest veterinary continuing education conferences on the West Coast, with an extensive offering of meetings, symposia, and “hands-on” labs.  My focus on this trip is to “bone-up” on orthopedic surgery, and aside from some general lectures, will be attending an all-day “hands-on” lab on Thursday.  I’m also attending meetings on the use of lasers in surgery, hoping to expand our use of our new carbon dioxide laser at Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital.  And of course, the sun and 65 degree weather isn’t too tough to take, either!

So I’m looking forward to a great meeting, and hope to bring back many great “updates” and “pearls” so that we can continue to expand the services we offer at the Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital, and continue to improve the quality of care we provide to our patients and clients!

Dr. Bob

Well, we’ve been working in our new clinical work space (new surgery suite, new treatment area, new radiology room, new lab), for about two weeks now, and our new “state of the art” digital radiography equipment is finally up and running!  The new equipment allows us to obtain diagnostic images with less stress to our patients, decreased radiation exposure for both our patients and staff, no need for a darkroom and processor . . . and most importantly, the images are AMAZING!  Additionally, we no longer need to store old X-Rays, can copy the digital images onto a CD when needed, and can request a radiology review by a Board Certified Veterinary Radiologist just by sending the images electronically.  After using the new equipment and technology for just a couple of weeks, it’s hard to imagine how we got by with the old equipment for so long!

It’s been many months in the making, but we finally moved into our new clinical work space this week!  We are very much enjoying the new surgical suite, new and larger clinical treatment area, and new clinical laboratory, and hope to have our new digital X-Ray system on-line by the end of the week!  Things are still a bit chaotic at times as we move all of our equipment and supplies into the new work area, but we’re coming up with all sorts of new ideas on how to work better and more efficiently within the newly remodeled facility!  It’s all very exciting!

And as we make this move, we’re also getting ready to start the second phase of our project, that of completely remodeling our reception area and waiting room!  This will be a much more conspicuous project, as we’ll be cleaning up and utilizing the old surgery suite and treatment area as a temporary reception and waiting area. But we’re confident that it will all be worth a little inconvenience as we continue to update and rebuild our practice!

We’ll continue to keep you posted as to the many changes ongoing within our practice, and please feel free to stop by and take a quick look at our new clinical work space!

I was a little worried a couple of weeks ago that I’d head down to Florida only to find weather that really wasn’t much warmer than that of State College!  But fortunately, the cold snap has abated in the south, and it’s generally been in the low 70’s during the day here in Orlando!

I’m attending the North American Veterinary Conference which is held every January here in Orlando.  It’s one of the largest veterinary conferences held in the country every year, packed full of good quality Continuing Education Lectures as well as “hands-on” Wetlabs covering a variety of interests and disciplines.  I spent most of the day yesterday in lectures related to Cardio-Pulmonary Medicine sponsored by the Academy of Veterinary Cardiology, and today will be the Neurology Symposium sponsored by the British Small Animal Veterinary Association!

But it’s not all lectures and classroom work . . . I very much enjoyed the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine Alumni Reception last night, and there’s always some major entertainment during a couple of the evenings (Martin Short did a comedy show the first night of the conference, and Foreigner will be playing in the ballroom tonight).

So . . . although the warm weather is nice, I’ll be looking forward to returning to State College later this week, and bringing back some new ideas and “updates” to improve our practice at the Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital!

Dr. Bob

The Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital is excited to welcome Dr. Rochelle Jones to our clinical staff.  Dr. Jones comes to State College after trekking all the way across the country from San Francisco where she had been practicing for the last five years.  Dr. Jones is a graduate of the University of California at Davis (D.V.M., 2004), and brings with her a solid background in small animal medicine and surgery.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Jones to the practice and the State College area, and feel free to stop by and say “hi” anytime!

It’s 2010!  Happy New Year!  The staff at the Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital is excited about the changes underway in our hospital as we start the new year, and we want to wish all of our clients, friends, and family, a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!

The Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital will be open Thursday December 24 (Christmas Eve) from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon and Thursday December 31 (New Year’s Eve) from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon.  We will be closed on the Friday’s of Christmas and New Years Day, but will be open our normal Saturday hours of 8:00 am to 12:00 noon on Saturday December 26 and Saturday January 2.

And from all of us here at the Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital, we’d like to wish all of our patients, clients, friends, and family in the State College community a very Happy Holiday, and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

We’re getting closer!  Our remodeling project is moving along very quickly now, as all of the walls are up and in the process of being painted, the final work on the hospital systems is being completed (oxygen and waste anesthetic gas systems), and it’s about time to start installing the new floor!  Soon we’ll be installing all of our cabinets and countertops, installing our new surgical lighting and work tables . . . and our new digital radiography system is scheduled for installation next week!

We’re hoping that we’re able to move into our new clinical facilities by the end of the month, and then it’ll be time to start with the next phase of our remodeling with work in the reception and waiting areas.  Lots of great stuff to come at the Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital!

It’s that time of year when we need to take a few minutes and step back from our busy lives to reflect on those things that matter most, yet are so often taken for granted . . . our family and friends!

The staff at the Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital would like to wish all of our clients, colleagues, and friends in the community a wonderful Thanksgiving, and hope you’ll find a little time to relax and enjoy!