Editor’s note, Feb. 23, 2024: The Livestock Veterinary Service remains closed due to unforeseen construction delays. We are working hard to resolve these issues as soon as possible and reopen our in-hospital service for the community and its animals. Please visit our website regularly for the latest updates. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
Following a two-week closure, Colorado State University’s Livestock Veterinary Services will resume normal operations in a temporary building along Bay Road on Feb. 13. The move is part of a planned effort by the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to make way for demolition of the old livestock building and the eventual construction of CSU’s new Veterinary Health and Education Complex, known as VHEC.
“This is a big milestone,” said Britt Mactavish, CSU’s VHEC project manager. “But this is just the tip of the iceberg for the larger complex.”
The livestock facility, which provides emergency services as well as basic livestock care and surgeries for production, show and companion livestock animals, will be housed in its temporary location for approximately 18 months. The temporary building is fully equipped, although smaller than the original facility located off the back of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
“This really allows for us to continue as-is while the new building is constructed,” said Sarah Raabis, assistant professor in livestock medicine and surgery. “There will be some challenges with moving spaces, but we’re working on making sure that we can essentially function as we have been.”
In some cases, Raabis said, the livestock team will work with veterinary colleagues at the Johnson Family Equine Hospital to handle additional surgeries in that building.
The current livestock facility and clinic has been in the same building for about 45 years; at the moment, the team sees around 700 livestock cases in the hospital annually, Raabis said. The team also operates a livestock field service, which will not be impacted by the temporary move or VHEC construction.
“Change can be tough, but the idea here is that we’re really going to be changing for the better in the future,” Raabis said. “We’ll be able to offer excellent patient care and better training for students at our newer permanent home.”
The eventual new home for the livestock service is part of the larger VHEC construction project slated for completion in May 2026. In addition to the new clinic space, the livestock facility will also include new state-of-the-art teaching labs. Work on the larger VHEC project is already underway and an official groundbreaking is planned for May 2024.
The $230 million upgrade and expansion of the veterinary medicine and education facilities on CSU’s South Campus are designed to help the University deliver a progressive curriculum update to one of the country’s premier Doctor of Veterinary Medicine programs.
“This is an exciting project — a really big deal,” Mactavish said, adding that there’s still a long way to go. “This is a marathon, and we’re still in the first 100 yards.”
