Patients at Tufts Animal Hospital

Our recently completed Tufts University Foster Hospital for Small Animals was featured in the Spring 2017 Tufts Magazine showcasing just a few of the animals that have benefited from the new addition/renovation. The project includes 18,000 SF interior renovation of the hospital’s existing clinical spaces, as well as a 4,000 SF two-story addition at the front of the hospital which serves as its main entry and face toward the street.

On a cold winter morning, the reception area in the newly renovated Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals bustles with pets and their owners, many of whom have traveled a long way to see the veterinarians at Cummings School.

Carroll Ho, from Long Island, New York, confers quietly with Caitlyn Little, a fourth-year veterinary student, about how they will aspirate a lump beneath the fluffy white coat of her Maltese terrier, Gabby. Jeff Doyle, from West Brattleboro, Vermont, strokes Butter, a soulful-eyed, 9-year-old bloodhound with lymphoma who’s come for his outpatient dose of chemotherapy. Robert DeSimone and Gloria Cipriano, of West Warwick, Rhode Island, sit with Tessie, their 13-year-old kitty being treated for chronic inflammatory bowel disease and a thyroid disorder. Peeking out from her carrier, Tessie seems content in the hospital’s main reception area, but her owners appreciate the fact that there’s also a separate space for cats that get skittish in noisy places and do better in a more private, quiet space.

In the sun-filled room, which is nearly twice as large as the old lobby, there’s a noticeable absence of barking, whining, pacing or other signs of stress among the visitors, furry or otherwise.

“More windows, more light, more space and more quiet help calm people as well as animals,” said Virginia Rentko, the medical director of the Foster Hospital. “People have been to one or more veterinarians by the time they come here. They are likely to be worried and stressed. With this renovation, our space now matches the level of our medical care.”

Read the full article.