By: Donovan W. Mann – [email protected]
Humboldt, IA – The Humboldt Veterinarian Clinic is looking to serve more efficiently thanks to expansion on their facility.
The Humboldt Vet Clinic on Highway 3 practices both small animal and large animal (farm) medicine. Owner of the clinic, Dr. Aubrey Cordray talks about the facility and how it will better allow them to serve their clients both big and small.
Dr. Cordray says that their facility will allow them to treat more clients especially as the demand on the farm care side grows. She says there are becoming “fewer and fewer” veterinarians who are willing to go into the large animal practice. She recalls when she was younger almost every small town would have their farm vet but now they are few and far between.
As a result the Humboldt Vet Clinic is receiving more calls and they are coming from further away. Dr. Cordray says they wanted to be able to help those people but the distance made it impossible.
For the producers the facility now allows them to be able to more efficiently get the necessary care for their livestock. Dr. Corday says that most producers only have temporary on farm facilities that can take half a day to set up. Now the local producers have the opportunity to load their cattle and bring them directly into the clinic. It can save the producer time in the long run because there is no need for set up and tear down.
For Dr. Corday she says it’s more efficient for the vet because there is less travel time and all the equipment they could need is ready at hand. “Comes back to efficiency” she says. Often times a care provider can show up to a farm call and not have the right equipment because the diagnosis changes. “Well, I can just run to the large animal supply room and grab it” she says.
The vet says that they will still be doing farm calls. There are some things that have to be done on location.
On the large animal side the clinic now has a new haul in facility that allows producers to bring their cattle in for care. It features an adjustable bud tub that allows a safe way for bulls and cattle to be pushed through for evaluation.
The bud tub leads to a tilt table chute. The chute can be compressed to fit cattle of any size, from bulls to calves. It allows for easier access to most areas of the animal for better evaluation and safer care.
They have a larger and better equipped room for horses as well. The floor is made of rubber for better traction and the walls are padded for leaning. They have a stock in this room.
On the other side of the coin is the small animal care. Dr. Corday says they made updates and expansions there as well. They have gone from having two exam rooms to four that are all unique to serve different purposes. Each room has a calming color scheme.
One room has a higher table. This room is more suitable for smaller dogs and cats.
One room is set up like a lounge area. It is serves as a place for acupuncture procedures. It also provides a more comfortable environment for euthanasia. There is a separate entrance to this room to allow for privacy during a tender moment.
The third room has a shorter exam table used for larger dogs and the final room has a lift table that serves many different sizes.
The Humboldt Vet Clinic now has two surgical rooms instead of one before. One is primarily used for soft tissue procedures and the other is more designed for dental work.
The waiting rooms are designed to allow for comfort to the animals as well. There are two separated dog seating areas to avoid direct contact between pets. The cat waiting area is a warm, enclosed glass room with climbing shelves.
There are always three vets scheduled at once. Their office area allows for closer communication in the event that help is required on a case.
Dr. Aubrey Cordray and her husband Kevin, who does the business operations for the clinic, purchased the facility in 2017. The planning for the upgrades at the facility began in early 2018 and construction was just recently finished.
They would like to thank everyone who made this project possible.