East York Veterinary Center, York PA

Expanding to Improve Care

Veterinary care has changed in the past two decades, so an East York center is adjusting.
By TERESA McMINN
For the Daily Record/Sunday News

Article Last Updated: 03/11/2008 11:37:36 PM EDT

As the architect and builder left the groundbreaking celebration, Gloria Stauffer smiled and recalled the early days when she answered the telephones and walked dogs at her daughter's small, new veterinary practice.

That was about 20 years ago.

Today, Valerie Miller, a veterinarian who has served on the York County SPCA board of directors since 1989, is more than doubling the size of her East York Veterinary Center in Springettsbury Township. The facility is undergoing more than $1 million in renovations and an expansion that will result in a 7,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art building.

"It's a big deal for me," Miller said. "When I started this practice, I was the only doctor . . . I actually brought up a couple of my kids here."

Now, four veterinarians and about a dozen staff members work with Miller at the center.

"It really wasn't even a goal," Miller said of the expansion. "It just grew, like the kids."

After the practice ran out of space, she hired Kevin Miller, director of architecture for Architectural Resources in Landisville, who said his firm specializes in animal-care facilities such as veterinary practices and kennels.

"Although every health care-type facility tries to create inviting environments, we made this one unique in the fact that the reception/waiting area is designed to feel like relaxing in an indoor/outdoor space," he wrote in an e-mail.

The improved practice will include warm, stained-concrete floors, wicker-type seating, water features, vaulted ceilings, a dedicated dental suite, a new surgery suite and a cottage-type facade on the exam rooms "complete with a picket fence," he said. Each exam room will have a window facing the waiting area, to eliminate a boxed-in feeling, and will be set up for digital displays so that X-rays and other patient information can be easily shared with pet owners, Kevin Miller said.

The updated facility will also include a comfort room with a living-room-like appearance, wood floors and soft seating.

"This type of room has become very popular with owners who have had to deal with difficult moments, such as having to put a loved pet to sleep," Kevin Miller said.

He also said canine and feline boarding "condominiums" will feature soft bedding, natural light, and ample space for pets to move around.

"In the canine condominium area, there will be the capability for web cams where pet owners can log in and check in on the well being of their loved ones," he said.

"I just always wanted it to be comfortable," Valerie Miller said. "I want to keep that clean, homey, friendly feel."