New Haven Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine moving to North Haven Shift to North Haven doubles space

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NEW HAVEN >> After almost four decades in the city, the New Haven Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine will open Monday at a new site in the suburbs with a slightly different name, but the same mission.



“We love being in New Haven, but, quite frankly, we just ran out of space,” said Kathy Cavanagh, a veterinary technician and client care coordinator, who has been with the hospital on State Street for 25 years.



The hospital will move into a facility that was built for it, which it is leasing at the Crossroads Medical Center in North Haven. Cavanagh said it is some six minutes away from the current site.



The 8 Divine St. address is off State Street and accessible from Exit 10 on Interstate 91, the Merritt Parkway, Interstate 84 via Route 691 and Route 80. The phone nunber will be the same, 203-865-0878.



“We will stop taking emergencies here at 8 a.m. on Monday morning and open at the new facility at 8 a.m. in North Haven,” Cavanagh said. “We are not going to miss a beat.”



In 1974, when a group of area veterinarians came up with the idea of an emergency facility for animals, as well as a place for more involved procedures, it was a relatively new concept, Cavanagh said.



Among the original founders are Dr. Robert Aldrich of Veterinary Associates of Westville, Dr. Terry Claypoole, who still practices at the Elm Veterinary Clinic in West Haven, and Dr. Charles Cohen, who now works in California. Two of the deceased members were Dr.George Whitney of Orange and Dr. Allan Hart, who worked in North Branford.



The new facility, which will be called the Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine, will have 12 exam rooms, up from four; and six operating rooms, an increase of two.



Cavanagh said they service 20,000 animals annually, including 5,000 to 6,000 emergency cases. It will continue to serve the 150 veterinarians who referred emergencies to the hospital last year. The hospital also has 10 area outpatient veterinarian clinics with which it is affiliated.



She said the animals currently under their care as they switch facilities will be transported in their mobile van and pet owners won't have anything to worry about.



Cavanagh said some of the new services that will be coming in include physical rehabilitation and an oncology specialist, as well as a neurologist and an opthamologist.



The hospital will not dispense routine care, but it did open the Veterinary Wellness Center of New Haven at 668 State St. a little over a year ago so the neighborhood will continue to have access to an outpatient clinic.



Cavanagh said they will miss being in New Haven, but some of the amenities will be appreciated, such as a ground-level entrance with an overhang so that the animals stay dry. She said it was always a struggle to handle big, wet sick dogs that were wheeled in from a distance.



In its 39-year history, Cavanagh said the hospital never once closed its doors, keeping to the 24-hour schedule, even in last year's massive blizzard.



“There is always someone here,” she said, and that won't change.



Cavanagh said the hospital decided to lease the building, rather than purchase it, as a cost-saving measure to keep its prices essentially the same. “We're sensitive to veterinary costs,” Cavanagh said.



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