Craig Road Animal Hospital in North West Las Vegas, recently completed a number of renovations to improve services and patient care – particularly in the areas of boarding and grooming. Hospital Administrator Mike Falconer goes over these and what they mean for Craig Road Animal Hospital.
Mike Falconer, Hospital Administrator
By Mike Falconer
We are all very proud of what we do, and how we do it, here at Craig Road Animal Hospital. There are times, however, when we realize that there are things we could be doing better. Ultimately, that is what leads to new services and building projects like the one we have recently completed.
Ever since I started at Craig Road Animal Hospital we have brain storming about what we could use the large open area that was the hospital’s lobby before our expansion in 2008, an area we generically call the Sun Room. We have kept a small amount of boarding pets in there but in general it has been used as a multipurpose space. We have used it for unpacking large shipments of supplies, our annual Santa photographs, receiving tours, staff education – you name it. However, we have always felt that we could do more with the space.
Grooming
Becky has been grooming at Craig Road Animal Hospital since it opened and the space that she works in has not really changed in all that time. We need to improve her area and with the addition of Lynee as a groomer who also works with large dogs it became even more obvious that we needed to upgrade our grooming facilities.
We have cordoned off a space in the Sun Room specifically for grooming, complete with two new tubs, one of small dogs, and another for the very largest dogs.
Our two new grooming tubs in our new grooming area.
The space also has a lot more natural light, better drying facilities, and a larger work area. It is also enclosed with glass and waterproof cladding stopping the spread of pet hair to the rest of the hospital.
Our new grooming area.
Cat Suites
By moving our grooming area into the sun room we were able to free up an entire room where grooming used to be. We have dedicated this new room in improving the quality of our cat boarding by adding 12 cat suites.
Our new Cat Suites can be linked together to provide a large controlled area for cats to explore but still keep them safe.
Each suite, or condo, feature two smaller rooms suitable for sleeping, or just hiding out, and a larger main room with a perch. Each suite can be connected to up to three others allowing owners of multiple cats (or owners who just want a lot of space for their cat) to book a large, enclosed environment that they can explore while still being safe and contained.
A single cat condo consisted of two small rooms and a larger room with a perch.
The cat suite room is a cat only space, and is very quiet to make things as comfortable as possible for our feline friends.
Dog Suites
Craig Road Animal Hospital has had large 6’ x 7’ dog suites for many years. We have now tiled each suite to make a warmer and more pet friendly space for the large dog, or multi-dog, households that make use of the suites. Not only does this look a lot nicer of an environment for our bigger boarders – it makes it easier for our kennel staff to keep clean.
One of our Dog Suites, for large dogs, or for multi-dog house holds.
Sound Proofing
Our exam rooms are directly next to the Sun Room and this has meant that the occasional noise from this boarding area can be overheard and often at the most inconvenient times.
The wall between “the sun room” and our exam rooms ready for our new sound proofing to be installed. Note the additional double door frame.
We have added a significant amount of additional sound proofing between the sun room and exam rooms to combat this problem and I am pleased to report that it has been a great success. This is particularly great news as it allows us to look at adding some additional boarding into the sun room in the New Year.
All of these renovations, rather than adding new services, are about improving the environment and the quality of what we already do. As always, you are welcome to have a tour of our entire facility (or just see our recent renovations), please just ask any member of staff and they will arrange it for you and we also welcome tours by groups. Please feel free contact me directly to schedule a group tour.
