Access To Care Endowed Chair Established

PetSmart Charities has donated $6 million to name an endowed chair at the school. This marks the largest gift to date made by the top funder of animal welfare in the U.S. to bolster the commitment to improving access to veterinary care. Establishing the PetSmart Charities Endowed Chair in Accessible Veterinary Care will leverage UC Davis’ breadth of research strengths to continue to build innovative, compassionate care for all pets, ensure hands-on clinical training for veterinary students, and develop research models that can scale nationwide. The VMTH’s Access To Care Program exemplifies this model and reaches historically excluded rural and urban communities. The VMTH has a long history of bettering access to care for underserved communities and rescue organizations through ATC entities such as the Knights Landing One Health Clinic, Fracture Program for Rescue Animals, Community Surgery Service, treatment for animals burned in wildfires among others.

Faculty Update:

• Congratulations to Dr. Kate Hopper for being awarded the 2023 Zaslow Distinguished Service Award from the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society (VECCS). This award is given to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional commitment and dedication while making significant contributions to VECCS and the practice of veterinary emergency and critical care. This award is chosen by the VECCS Board of Directors to honor a VECCS member who has given selflessly to grow and support the organization.

Staff Update:

• On June 23rd, the VMTH welcomed recent, and soon-to-be, graduating veterinary technician students from local vet tech programs to tour the VMTH and participate in continuing education relevant to newer technicians. In partnership with the Center for Professional Continuing Education and Hill’s Pet Nutrition, students learned about technician opportunities in academia, research, and industry, as well as skills in resume writing, interviews, application processes, and communication. The VMTH is grateful for these partnerships that allow us to showcase our amazing teams and what we can offer for technician internships and career opportunities.

VMC/Facility Update:

Current Construction

All Species Imaging Center

• Work continues on underground utilities for the foreseeable future
• Building foundation begins late July/early August
• Estimated completion: October 2024
• South side of B-Barn is a good alternative location for equine exams
• Trailer parking/unloading space is available between VM2 and Old Hay Barn

Lameness Pavillion (Old Hay Barn)

• New arena installation in July

Steam Line Between D-Barn and EAPL

• Periodic blocking of parking Lot 51 for the next few weeks
• Estimated completion: July 2023

VMTH 1071

• Daytime construction to prep for ASIC through July

Center for Advanced Veterinary Surgery

• Estimated completion: September 2023

Future Construction

D-Barn Renovation

• Upgrades to the equine side of D-Barn (Equine Reproduction area) in July/August (includes new stocks, flooring, electrical, and cabinet upgrades). Will be available for use by all services during construction that will affect VMTH 1104 (see below).

Small Animal Dentistry

• Construction of new Dentistry suite in VMTH 2175 (former Nutrition suite) begins in August. Construction will impact VMTH 2164A and 1104 (Equine receiving) 
• East half (from the center column to the east wall) of VMTH 1104 will be closed from mid/late Summer through end of 2023
• Colic stocks will still be available for use
• Equipment and Omnicell will be moved away from the east wall and will be accessible
• D-Barn will be available for a large interior exam space

Please utilize the PerfectForm icon link available on every VMTH desktop (or through VIPER>VMTH>Forms>VPETT) to nominate your colleagues for recognition of an outstanding example of one of our five Cultural Pillars: Realize Our Vision, Value People, Pursue Excellence, One Team, Trusted Dialogue.

The Cultural Pillars Committee is pleased to announce the recipients of the VPETT Recognition Award for the month of June.

June Recipients:

Lindsey Tewksbury, an animal health technician in the Diagnostic Imaging Service, was recognized for exemplifying our cultural beliefs of Realize Vision, One Team, and Trusted Dialogue, which contributed to the key results of Excellence in Patient Care, Client/rDVM Satisfaction, and Employee Engagement.

“Lindsey stepped up to help me upload some radiographs – a task I was capable of but did not have the bandwidth for at the moment due to my workload with a critical patient. She helped me with a smile, as always, and I appreciate it so much.”

Michaelah Kotyluk, an animal health technician in the Large Animal Clinic, was recognized for exemplifying our cultural beliefs of Value People and One Team, which contributed to the key results of Excellence in Patient Care and Employee Engagement.  

“We had a very large caseload last week, and Michaelah went above and beyond to make sure that patient care needs in the isolation unit were met. It can be a very difficult unit to manage when there are many patients. Michaelah worked very hard to deliver great patient care and superb teamwork.”

Thank you, Lindsey and Michaelah, for your hard work and dedication to the VMTH.

Key Cultural Pillar

“One Team"



The VMTH is once again offering transvenous electrical cardioversion (TVEC) procedures for horses. Recently, Rio, an 8-year-old American Quarter Horse gelding, became the first patient in more than a decade to receive a TVEC at the VMTH. Rio’s atrial fibrillation was corrected by shocking his heart using electrodes on the tips of catheters placed across the heart through his veins. Two catheters were placed in Rio’s right jugular vein – one was advanced into the left pulmonary artery and the other into the right atrium. Several services collaborated on this successful procedure to convert Rio’s irregular heart rhythm back into a regular (sinus) rhythm. Great team effort by members of the Equine Field Service, Equine Medicine Service, Diagnostic Imaging Service, Cardiology Service, Anesthesia Service, and patient care to make this happen.  

Wellness Tip of the Month

Florence Soares-Dabalos, MS, LMFT, the VMTH’s client support and wellness professional, offers a brief tip each month on managing stress during busy and demanding careers. Please see the full website of services that Florence offers, including a section on House Officer Wellness.

• This month, I thought I’d share the RESPECTFUL model (D’Andrea & Daniels, 1997, 2001). It’s an acronym highlighting Religion, Economic class, Sexual identity, Psychological maturity, Ethnicity/race, Chronological/developmental challenges, Trauma, Family/pets, Unique psychical characteristics, Location/language. It’s used in counseling to help counselors understand how one’s intersectionality may impact the work we do so we can come from a place of respect towards the whole person. It seems this model might be useful in veterinary medicine as well. Next time you’re communicating with another, ask yourself, “In what ways does my intersectionality influence my worldview and my communication with others? In what ways does another’s intersectionality influence the way they communicate with me?” Keep the RESPECTFUL model in mind next time you’re communicating with someone and see if it helps you better understand yourself and others. Read more about the RESPECTFUL model.