“The teaching hospital is the pinnacle of student learning, and we have the only veterinary medical teaching hospital in the state of Texas. We do an exceptional job of teaching clinical medicine, partly because of the diverse caseload we gather here at the hospital.”

—Dr. Stacy Eckman, associate dean for hospital operations

“The hospital’s caseload has tripled since the current facility opened, and there’s this tremendous opportunity to do so much more. We continue to innovate with interventional radiology, minimally invasive surgery, and some procedures you can’t get anywhere else in the state or the country. This is about doing more of that; it’s about access.”

—Dr. Jon Levine, head of the Small Animal Clinical Sciences Department

“We have a unique opportunity to collaborate with our colleagues across the university, in those disciplines who share our interest in animal and human health, to develop the model of what a small animal teaching hospital should be within a research-intensive, land-grant institution as Texas A&M University is.”

—Dr. John August, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine

“We understand that pets are part of the family, and people are rightfully worried when they bring their pets here. We want to make sure that they feel welcome, that we find ways of decreasing their stress and providing reassurance while, at the same time, providing very advanced, technical patient care.”

—Dr. John August, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine

“The building that we design needs to promote well-being. We have seen healing gardens in human hospitals that can help create a sense of calm and accelerate healing. I want to see that balance—that it’s not just a high-tech facility, but it’s a place where people who are immersed in this facility (be they clients, employees, or students) for long hours can feel as though the environment is welcoming and calming.”

—Dr. John August, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine

“If we look at our New, Next-Generation Small Animal Teaching & Research Hospital as a research-intensive tertiary care center, we can aspire to become a teaching hospital comparable to MD Anderson. You go there to be part of a clinical trial. You go there because it is the best in the world. You go there because it is cutting-edge. People understand that that’s the role Texas A&M should have in caring for companion animals.”

—Dr. John August, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine

“Texas is a big state, and part of our land-grant mission is to serve the citizens of Texas. How do we connect if people can’t drive from the Rio Grande Valley or the Panhandle to us? I see solid opportunities for our telehealth program to grow and extend down to the Rio Grande Valley in helping veterinarians there who don’t have access to convenient referral and tertiary care.”

—Dr. John August, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine

“We must remember the importance of our external impact through our students, serving our state, and innovating. Where we see gaps, we’ve got to fill them. We must be thinking of big ideas—like the Underserved Communities Internship Program and the Roach Family Student Community Outreach Surgical Program.”

—Dr. Jon Levine, head of the Small Animal Clinical Sciences Department