Veterinary medical center
veterinary medical center
The Phoenix Zoo in Phoenix, Arizona, is one of the largest nonprofit zoos in the U.S. We care for more than 3,000 animals representing almost 400 species, many of which are threatened or endangered.
Our Veterinary Medical Center is the heart of the Zoo. It is the place where animals receive amazing care from our veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and animal care staff.
The Veterinary Medical Center will push the limits of zoological medicine to increase knowledge and provide optimal care. The Zoo envisions a comprehensive center for veterinary medicine, where the Zoo’s animals will be treated with unparalleled expertise and compassion; a center of innovation where clinicians, scholars, and students collaborate to advance the health of animals, people, and the environment, and provide a center of clinical discovery where transformative research can take place.
A new veterinary medical center will allow us to deliver on all aspects of our mission in ways that right now we can only imagine.
Project Renderings
The new 25,000 square foot medical center is vital to our ability to advance the care of the animals we serve, educate and inspire our guests, and provide hands on experience to wildlife veterinarians and veterinary students. It will include advanced medical equipment and research space that will help take us to the cutting edge of wildlife veterinary science and healthcare. Updated and larger medical and surgical facilities will have windows and screens to allow guests to watch exams and procedures and be inspired. Classrooms and collaborative workspace will provide space to train and motivate the wildlife veterinarians of tomorrow.
It will ensure that we are once again at the leading edge of zoological medicine. It will be the foundation of the Phoenix Zoo’s future growth. A $25 million funding initiative will support this once-in-a-lifetime endeavor.
The need for a new medical center is rooted in three key areas:
Space Constraints
The current medical center is space constrained. Our larger animals cannot be treated within the medical center. Surgical and other rooms double as storage areas. Surgeries involving teams of specialists are challenging.
Acquisition of Advanced Medical Equipment
We are currently unable to accommodate additional advanced diagnostic equipment that would benefit the diagnosis and treatment of our animals.
Education and Inspiration
Our current medical center limits our ability to train the wildlife veterinarians of tomorrow and provides limited opportunities for interaction and education of Zoo guests and student groups.
Our commitment
With a new medical center, we will provide our animals with the best care possible into the future. Our commitment continues with the training of tomorrow’s veterinarians and inspiring our guests to more deeply care about animal stewardship and conservation. The following beliefs guide us:
CARE AND CONSERVATION
We believe that a world-class zoo and the animals we steward deserve the best possible medical facilities and care, and that conservation and wellbeing of animals should be one of our priorities.
CONNECTION
We believe that we have a responsibility to educate, motivate and inspire people to care for the natural world through our actions, facilities and the opportunities we provide.
COLLABORATION
We believe that the best way to learn is by doing — providing hands-on opportunities for veterinarians, researchers and students of veterinary medicine to practice and collaborate.
The new medical center will:
- Accommodate the in-hospital care of larger species that we cannot currently hospitalize.
- Include and focus on the use of advanced medical equipment. The Phoenix Zoo will be one of the few zoo veterinary medical centers in the country to include a CT scanner. This advanced diagnostic imaging will greatly enhance our ability to diagnose and treat animal patients.
- Have digital radiography equipment, ultrasonography, endoscopy and advanced anesthesia monitoring.
- Include updated surgery, laboratory, treatment, examination and animal housing facilities.
- Feature large animal and environmentally-controlled quarantine space.
- Allow us to continue to train veterinarians in zoological medicine.
The new medical center will:
- Have multiple public viewing windows and will provide guests and student groups the opportunity to observe and experience first-hand the importance of veterinary medicine in a zoological setting.
- Showcase the Zoo’s exceptional veterinary care.
- Help shape the public’s understanding about conservation issues and zoological medicine and engage our guests to better understand the Zoo’s mission.
The new medical center will:
- Provide us with the space required to conduct scientific research.
- Continue teaching opportunities for visiting veterinary students and veterinarians.
- Allow us to continue our clinical teaching programs for veterinary students and graduate veterinarians interested in zoological medicine.
- Include collaborative space for medical rounds, discussion and preparation for medical procedures, ongoing scientific study, and reviewing scientific advancements and best practices in conservation medicine.
- Allow continued and enhanced support for conservation medicine working with species around the world.
Your financial commitment to help build a new veterinary medical center — the heart of the Zoo — will ensure that the Zoo’s impact on and importance to the future of our animals, our children and our world continues growing strong.
THANK YOU!
building a future
The Phoenix Zoo is a non-profit organization that receives no government operating subsidy. It relies solely on earned income and philanthropic support. Of the $15.3 million campaign total, $1.5 million will be restricted to a permanent endowment to support operational and maintenance expenses of these new expanded projects.
For more information, contact Lorraine Frias at 602.914.4322.
