34 | REGIONAL Clutha Vets Main Contractor for the Clutha Vets Project Email: jason@stevwill.co.nz Applicators of sealant, waterproo ng, resin ooring and membrane roofs Dunedin • Phone 453-0791 www.adhesionsealing.co.nz Installation • Maintenance • Removal • Repairs Mobile: 021 488 353 Email: cmceilingservices@gmail.com Suspended Ceilings Steel Batten/Partition Gib Fixing T T Aimee Wilson Outram clinic caters for growth Clutha Vets is governed by a board of directors, who are all farmers, that respond to the needs of the industry. One of the Southern district’s biggest veterinary practices is expanding its operation, with a new, purpose-built clinic in Outram underway to cater for the growing market. Clutha Vets is a club-owned vet practice based in Balclutha, with clinics in Milton and Lawrence, and a store in Clydevale. It employs 26 vets along with 43 support staff (technicians, nurses, retail, and admin). Bevan Topham is one of five vet managers and says the Milton branch has been catering for increased demand from rural clients on the Taieri Plains and inland to the Strath-Taieri region in recent years, as well as companion animals from Mosgiel and Dunedin. Its 24/7 surgical suite in Balclutha was recently upgraded to among the highest standards in New Zealand for facilities and equipment, and includes an in-house laboratory, digital X-ray and ultrasound facilities, and a sterile surgery with modern anaesthetic machines and HEPA filtered positive pressure ventilation. Stevenson & Williams Ltd is building the new 700sqm Outram facility, which will be opening in 2027. It will feature three consult rooms and three further surgical suites to cater for its growing northern client base. Clutha Vets is governed by a board of directors, who are all farmers that respond to the needs of the industry. The club started back in 1908 with farmers banding together to ensure the wider rural and urban communities and their animals were looked after. Eventually, the service moved beyond Clutha and south to Clinton, inland to Beaumont and as far north as Middlemarch. “Geographically, we’re quite significant,” Bevan says. In recent years, the northern area from Mosgiel to Middlemarch has become busier, and a lack of large-animal services based there allowed Clutha Vets to step in and cater for that market. Outram will become the second-largest clinic owned and run by Clutha Vets, offering both small- and large- animal services. The new clinic will also have additional room for retail storage on-site, and some of the vets will move from Milton to the bigger, new facility. Bevan says dairy farmers on the Taieri Plains make up a significant amount of work for the current Milton-based team, with at least 50 of the business’s 250 dairy clients based there. The wider Clutha Vets business services approximately 1300 rural and 600 companion animal members of the club, as well as another 4000 non-members, who are predominately companion animal clients. Staff members have a wide range of experience across many different veterinarian disciplines, including a specialist companion animal orthopaedic team. “We call ourselves the GPs of the vet world,” Bevan says. He says because people expect a higher level of care for their animals nowadays, the team at Clutha Vets ensure they employ the right mix of skilled professionals. “We all have a slightly different skill set, and our new clinic will offer efficiencies for everyone – not just staff, but clients, and especially with time.” The design of the new building has taken into consideration the needs of staff, and was based on another clinic, but with a few more refinements. “We’ve had a lot of input from current staff to make it function as well as possible and have the right flow throughout the building,” says Bevan. Clutha Vets is committed to making a positive contribution to the local community, through field days and discussion groups, shows and competitions, farm training days, school visits and careers days, supporting Telford and the Clutha Agricultural Development Board, and providing work opportunities for school leavers, trainees and students. PLACEMAKERS DUNEDIN & MOSGIEL PLACEMAKERS DUNEDIN & MOSGIEL 50 Burns St & 34 Carncross St Phone: (03) 466 4617 Email: orders.dunedin@placemakers.co.nz PROUDLY SUPPORTING
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