Tufts University has joined Cornell, North Carolina State and the University of Pennsylvania as the only North American veterinary schools to operate VECCS Level 1 hospitals.
The Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society certified the Foster Hospital for Small Animals at the Cummings Veterinary Medical Center.
Level 1 designation is granted to 24-hour acute care facilities “with the resources and specialty training necessary to provide sophisticated emergent and critical patient care,” VECCS reported. Among other requirements is full-time employment of a American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care diplomate.
Levels 2 and 3 hospitals meet fewer prerequisites.
VECCS certification expires after two years unless renewed and is designed to raise “the standard of care while also increasing public and professional awareness in the area of veterinary emergency and critical patient care,” the organization reported.
The three other Level 1 university facilities are:
- Ryan Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
- Cornell University Veterinary Specialists in Stamford, Connecticut.
- The North Carolina State University Veterinary Hospital in Raleigh.
Tuft’s Foster Hospital opened in 1979 in North Grafton, Massachusetts.
“This recent VECCS Level I certification,” the university reported, “builds on Foster Hospital’s existing achievements and certifications, including Level I trauma center designation from the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care’s Veterinary Committee on Trauma, American Animal Hospital Association accreditation, and Cat Friendly Practice designation from the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the International Society for Feline Medicine.”
In North America, 27 veterinary hospitals hold Level 1 certification, according to Tufts.
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