Birmingham’s huge £10 million pet hospital in Longbridge has updated its opening date plans.
With construction now complete, Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital in Longbridge has reached near completition and the site team is working toward its doors opening soon.
It is named after St Baise - the patron saint of veterinarians, who was known for his kindness and empathy towards animals and his ability to heal them. St Blaise was said to be able to tame the fiercest of animals and help timid creatures become braver. Animals trusted him and looked to him for help.
It is the first pet hospital that owners IVC Evidensia have bulit in the UK and the plans are driven by a boom in pet ownership over the last three years. The 36,000 sq. ft pet hospital is set to be a specialist-led, multi-disciplinary unit offering health care for animals and 24/7 emergency care for pets in Birmingham and the surrounding areas.
Pets and their owners will be referred to the hospital by their local daytime vet practice when they need more specialised treatment, such as oncology for pets with cancer or cardiology for heart issues. There will also be an emergency and critical care service offering ICU and out of hours care from the UK’s leading pet emergency service, Vets Now, which is part of the same group.
The hospital website said IVC Evidensia - the parent company - is “preparing to open the doors to its new £10m referral hospital in early November. The £10m Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital in Longbridge, Birmingham, is the group’s first purpose built multi-disciplinary hospital.” The scheduled opening date is November 6.
What services will be available?
With the capacity to treat up to 10,000 pets pet year, the hospital will provide specialised treatment, such as oncology for pets with cancer or cardiology for heart issues. There will also be an emergency and critical care service offering ICU and out of hours care from the UK’s leading pet emergency service, Vets Now, which is part of the same group.
The hospital will include state-of-the-art equipment, pioneering treatments and specialist-led extended clinical services including a custom-built intensive care unit for emergency and critical care, advanced imaging suite, oncology treatment wards and several modern operating theatres.
Vet hospital appoints new clinical director
The hospital has appointmented its clinical director, Andrew Kent - a European Specialist in veterinary internal medicine. He has worked in referrals for over 10 years and will oversee the hospital from opening, driving it forward to become one of the UK’s top specialist veterinary hospitals.
Lara Dempsey has also been appointed as head of soft tissue surgery and Mike Farrell as head of orthopaedic surgery. Mr Kent said:“I am very much looking forward to joining Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital in this exciting project and creating a hospital that is an amazing place to work as well as one that offers exceptional levels of patient care. We are incredibly excited to open our doors to pets and their owners across the midlands later this year.”
Hospital to create jobs
The referral hospital will employ around 100 staff and is part of a wider collection of developments at Longbridge which will regenerate 75 acres of brownfield land, deliver up to 5,000 new jobs, up to 395 new homes and 27 acres of landscaping and open space.
What hospital owners said
Speaking about the recent developments, Lucie Goodwin, national medicine lead for IVC Evidensia UK, said: “Blaise is our first ever purpose-built hospital and naturally we’re all very excited to take another step in the journey towards opening its doors.
“The facilities at Blaise will allow delivery of an excellent specialist service to clients and the location in Longbridge next to the ‘rewilded’ riverbank is peaceful and perfect for both pet owners and staff to spend some time. We are committed to creating a positive workplace culture, making Blaise a great place to work, benefitting employees, patients and clients alike.”
Here’s a look at how the Pet Hospital in Longbridge is shaping up:
1. Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital in Birmingham
Multi-million pound pet hospital will be opening its doors in Birmingham in Longbridge
2. Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital
Located at the new West Longbridge regeneration site, the 36,000 sq. ft hospital, named after the patron saint of veterinarians, is owned by IVC Evidensia. (Image credit St Modwen Properties)
3. Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital
The state-of-the-art hospital will provide specialised treatment, such as oncology for pets with cancer or cardiology for heart issues. There will also be an emergency and critical care service offering ICU and out of hours care from the UK’s leading pet emergency service, Vets Now, which is part of the same group. (Image credit St Modwen Properties)
4. Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital
The hospital has environmentally friendly building initiatives and is set in a landscaped green space with picnic tables and a river walk to help enable a relaxing environment for owners and their pets. Some of the sustainability initiatives at Blaise include solar panels which span 40% of the building’s roof, air source heat pumps to decrease the use of fossil fuels, EV charging points and a travel plan implemented for staff. (Image credit St Modwen Properties)