VCA Animal Hospitals Rebuilds Florida Hospital Destroyed by Hurricane Ian

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VCA Animal Hospitals, the global leader of comprehensive veterinary services and part of Mars Veterinary Health, recently announced the reopening of VCA Sanibel Animal Hospital. The state-of-the-art hospital, spanning 4,100 square feet, has been reconstructed after the original 960-square-foot location was impacted by Hurricane Ian in 2022. The hospital will offer the most extensive set of services for pet owners on Sanibel Island, Florida.

Founded in 1965 as Coral Veterinary Clinic, the clinic joined the VCA family in 2017. VCA Sanibel has become the fastest-growing veterinary clinic on the island, expanding in size and services. The hospital now provides advanced veterinary care offerings to cats and dogs that were not available at the previous location including dentistry, surgery, medical occupancy, grooming, ultrasound, cold laser, radiology and more.

“As one of the former owners of Coral Veterinary Clinic, the rebuilding of our Hospital is a testament to VCA’s focus on care – for patients, clients, our Associates and communities,” said Jennifer Nichols, hospital manager, VCA Animal Hospitals. “Support from around VCA at the time of Ian helped us activate satellite hospitals surrounding the island to provide care for affected pets and made sure our Associates had immediate supplies and assistance. With community at the center of everything we do, we celebrate our new facility with a stronger and renewed commitment to delivering world-class medical care for pets and personalized experiences for pet owners.”

The modern, beachy-blue building displays beautiful “shellcrete” walkways and sidewalks, all-natural landscaping sourced with greenery 100 percent native to the island, a dedicated surgery suite, dental suite, three tables for pre- and post-operation treatment areas, an isolation room, onsite grooming, separate canine and feline kennels, an outdoor turfed play yard and five spacious exam rooms.

“We are humbled by the support of the community during our rebuilding process and excited to finally reintroduce VCA Sanibel’s expanded pet care services to the island,” said VCA chief operating officer Aaron Frazier. “Our new state-of-the-art, locally sourced and paper-lite facility will allow us to triple the number of pets that we see in a day while delivering innovative conveniences that we know pet owners want and expect from their veterinary hospital.”

VCA Sanibel is located at 1509 Periwinkle Way in Sanibel, Florida. The hospital joins four other VCA facilities surrounding the Sanibel Island community: VCA Baywood and VCA Chiquita in Cape Coral and VCA Coral Animal Hospital and VCA Miracle Mile in Fort Myers.

The National Hurricane Center reported that the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be extremely active, putting tens of millions of Americans and their pets at risk of flooding and damaging winds. In advance of this extraordinary forecast, VCA is launching a 2024 Hurricane Preparedness Playbook.