In late July, Animal Emergency & Referral Center (AERC) in Minnesota held a grand reopening of its facility in Oakdale, Minn., which underwent a $4.5 million, 17,000-sf expansion that included the installation of medical equipment that is equal to, and sometimes better than, equipment found in medical centers that treat human patients.
The clinic, which was constructed in 2009, over the past several years has increased its pet care specialty services to include internal medicine, surgery, rehabilitation, cardiology, dentistry and oral surgery, dermatology, radiology, and neurology.
As it business grew (it now has 10 specialties), AERC also became better known as a referral service for other clinics.
In 2015, “we looked at how we could max out the Oakdale site,” says Stephen Iaria, AIA, Managing Principal|Architecture for Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates in Grove Heights, Minn., which has worked with AERC since the Center started operating out of a strip mall in 2000. (AERC also has a clinic in St. Paul, Minn.)
AERC owned some contiguous land, and the city of Oakdale “was okay” about the Center using it for expansion, says Iaria. The new space provides more room for staff and patients, as well as for specialized medical equipment.
Because it has two operating tables, one of the three surgery suites in the expanded Oakdale facility needed to have better air quality and circulation than are required in an operating room for humans. Image: Adam Kennedy Photography
“It was designed as if it would be for human medicine,” says Iaria. This includes three surgery suites, one of which exceeds human requirements for air quality and circulation because it has two operating tables. That suite also required specialized lighting.
AERC selected MRI and CT scan equipment from the human medical field for their extra power and better image quality. The MRI machine weighs approximately 3,000 pounds and had to be lifted into place via crane. Because of the MRI’s magnetic pull, no surrounding components could contain metal. The CT machine required lead shielding due to its radiation emission.
“There is a real need for these specialists, and having a clinic that can function and house specialty equipment and adapt to the changing medical needs is such a large piece of that,” says Dr. Karen Reynhout, DVM, AERC’s Hospital Director.
A 3,000-pound MRI machine that was installed during the clinic's renovation and expansion provides the same image quality and power as machines used for humans. Image: Adam Kennedy Photography
In addition to the expansion, AERC had some minor work done to its existing building, including the conversion of one space to a multipurpose room. The renovation team also installed an elevator into a pit that had been designed a decade ago. And a smaller surgery suite was converted into an ultrasound room.
The second floor of the Oakdale clinic is now primarily office and boardroom space.
The second floor of the clinic is now used mostly for offices and meeting rooms. Image: Adam Kennedy Photography
Krech, O’Brien was the architect, structural engineer, and interior designer on this project. The renovation team included Emanuelson-Podas (MEP), DJ Kranz (GC), and The Center for Diagnostic Imaging (specialty equipment vendor).
During the renovation, Iaria says his firm “got deep into” how to detail rooms in order to have “an ultra clean environment.”
Related Stories
| Mar 21, 2012
Iowa’s Mercy Medical Center’s new Emergency Department constructed using Lean design
New Emergency Department features a "racetrack" design with a central nurses' station encircled by 19 private patient examination rooms and 2 trauma treatment rooms.
| Mar 19, 2012
HKS Selected for Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie
Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachiewill incorporate advanced technology including telemedicine, digital imaging, remote patient monitoring, electronic medical records and computer patient records.
| Mar 14, 2012
Tsoi/Kobus and Centerbrook to design Jackson Laboratory facility in Farmington, Conn.
Building will house research into personalized, gene-based cancer screening and treatment.
| Mar 6, 2012
Country’s first Green House home for veterans completed
Residences at VA Danville to provide community-centered housing for military veterans.
| Mar 1, 2012
7 keys to ‘Highest value, lowest cost’ for healthcare construction
The healthcare design and construction picture has been muddied by uncertainty over the new healthcare law. Hospital systems are in a bind, not knowing what levels of reimbursement to expect. Building Teams serving this sector will have to work even harder to meet growing client demands.
| Feb 29, 2012
Construction begins on Keller Army Community Hospital addition
The 51,000 square foot addition will become the home for optometry, ophthalmology, physical therapy, and orthopedics clinics, as well as provide TRICARE office space.
| Feb 29, 2012
Shepley Bulfinch selected to design new Children’s Hospital of Buffalo
The firm was selected because of their past experience in designing clinically complex facilities that emphasize patient- and family-centered care and operational efficiency as well as distinctive architectural forms for many other children's and women's hospitals.
| Feb 28, 2012
More than 1,000 have earned EDAC certification since 2009
Milestone achieved as evidence-based design becomes a top 2012 strategy for healthcare organizations.
| Feb 28, 2012
McCarthy completes second phase of San Diego’s Scripps Hospital
Representing the second phase of a four-phased, $41.3 million expansion and remodeling project, the new addition doubles the size of the existing emergency department and trauma center to encompass a combined 27,000 square feet of space.
