Charlotte Varcoe
A NEW multi-million dollar veterinary clinic is under construction in Mount Gambier.
Groundworks for the new Gambier Vet Clinic have begun on Allison Street, near the Mount Gambier hospital.
Two years in the making, the new clinic will allow space for more staff, consulting rooms and an extra surgical theatre.
Dr Rebel Skirving said staff and loyal clients were excited the development was underway.
“Essentially we have outgrown the building we are in as the business has been slowly growing over the last decade,” Dr Skirving said.
“We have gotten to the stage where we need more room and better facilities.”
Dr Skirving said the extra consulting rooms would allow for a better flow of clients with more animals being attended to at the same time.
“We will also employ more staff and we are very eager to employ locals where we can, and ideally we would have eight veterinary staff in total which would lessen the pressure on out-of-hours schedules,” she said.
“There are more and more people owning pets and there has also been more demand for vet services which has kept us busy.”
The dedicated veterinarian said having a nicer clinic would also attract more staff to the region and offer a better service to the community.
“We also have some very promising students coming through the ranks who will graduate at the end of the year and we need those vets to come to the region so we are able to provide a better service to the community,” Dr Skirving said.
“By having more vets it means we have more staff to share the after-hours load and provide a higher level of care for the animals and clients.”
Despite a lengthy delay in the construction process, Dr Skirving said the new clinic was expected to be up and running within the next year.
“We are very grateful to all the loyal clients that we have and we are very dedicated to providing a service to the community and staying local,” she said.
“A lot of professionals tend to leave the rural areas and head back to the cities but this is our way of letting the Mount Gambier community know we are here to stay and serve.”
