Design Conference

Founding Sponsor
Tri-Star Metals, Inc.

Co-Sponsors
Banc of America Practice Solutions
IDEXX Laboratories
TWC Sholar Architecture and Construction

Thursday, September 24
Moderator: C. Wayne Roberson, DVM

11:00 – 11:35 am  REGISTRATION AND BOX LUNCH

11:35 – 11:50 am
Conference Opening/Overview
C. Wayne Roberson, DVM

11:50 am – 12:00 Noon
Company Spotlight

12:00 Noon – 1:00 pm
Planning Your Project to Insure Success
Wayne Usiak, AIA
Unsure of how big to build, what it will cost, how much you can afford, or who you should hire to help? This presentation will illustrate the methodical analysis and global vision needed to achieve a successful outcome. Strategies to assemble and select your team, develop a realistic, achievable budget, and a timeframe for completion will be discussed. This session includes a review of the tools to help you manage your time, team, and budget.

1:00 – 1:10 pm
Company Spotlight

1:10 – 2:10 pm
What Does It Take to Get My Loan Approved? Financing Hospital Purchases
Gary I. Glassman, CPA
When you are financing the purchase of real estate, a piece of equipment, or needing a line of credit, determine the ins and outs of dealing with bankers and leasing companies. Learn what types of financing are available and how to making a winning presentation that will assure you financing. Also learn about the changes made to federal lending programs and bankers lending attitudes in our challenging economic times. 

2:10 – 2:30 pm Break

2:30 – 3:30 pm
Selecting and Developing Your Site
Daniel D. Chapel, AIA
It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of selecting the best location for the construction of a new animal hospital. The most accomplished veterinarian practicing in a new state-of-the-art facility will risk insecure times or even professional and financial failure in the wrong location.

While important, site selection and design isn’t a mysterious science. Common sense decisions combined with pertinent information will lead to the selection of a great building site. After careful site selection and purchase the site must be designed for utilization. The exterior design of your building, sign, drives, parking lot and landscaped areas must not be left to chance. The careful design of these features results in the all-important image projected by your hospital or boarding facility. Using slides of completed projects, this presentation will discuss the dos and don’ts of site and landscape design.

3:30 – 4:30 pm
Organizing a Floor Plan to Support Your Business
Sal Longo Jr., Associate AIA
Proper traffic flow in your hospital is one of the most important concerns you will address in designing your facility. It is unique to how you plan to practice veterinary medicine in your building. An inefficient plan will lead to wasted time and loss of money. Organize your hospital into the appropriate zones to make the most of your space and give you the most efficient floor plan. Participants will learn the important keys to flow patterns and how it can apply to their facility.

4:30 – 5:30 pm
Owner/Builder Panel Discussion

5:30 pm Adjourn

Friday, September 25
Moderator: C. Wayne Roberson, DVM

7:30 – 7:45 am Coffee & Muffins

7:45 – 8:00 am
Opening Remarks

8:00 – 9:00 am
Innovative Trends in Today’s Veterinary Hospitals
Daniel D. Chapel, AIA
It’s always interesting to know what our colleagues are building. This slide presentation of newly constructed animal facilities will highlight current trends and design features that have resulted in successful building projects. After viewing this overview, practitioners contemplating a building project should be better able to establish goals and quality standards for their projects.

9:00 – 9:10 am
Company Spotlight

9:10 – 10:10 am
Designing the Working Areas of Your Hospital
Sal Longo Jr., Associate AIA
The “Private” side of the hospital addresses different concerns in comparison to the public areas. Whether dealing with issues of moisture, clinical procedures or animal housing, special design considerations need to be addressed to ensure the efficiency of your practice and longevity of your building. Grouping departments properly in your building is the key to a successful practice. Participants will learn what is unique to designing the work zone areas of the hospital.

10:10 – 10:25 am Break

10:25 – 11:25 am
Waiting, Reception and Exam Rooms
Wayne Usiak, AIA
Up to 70% of your practice income is generated in these three key hospital areas. Clients make most of their value judgments about your practice here. Design affords you the opportunity to effect these value decisions in a positive way. Organizational strategies and keys to an efficient layout will be presented. Elements you can incorporate to influence client comfort and confidence as well as staff attitude and efficiency will be illustrated. Real world solutions will be presented that make your practice stand out.

11:25 – 11:35 am
Company Spotlight

11:35 am – 12:35 pm
Renovations, Additions and Cosmetic Remodels: Tricks and Strategies
Sal Longo Jr., Associate AIA
Not all veterinarians have the need or ability to build a brand new animal facility. Renovating or adding on to your existing building can be a viable option if careful thought is given to the overall floor plan of the hospital. While new construction does not typically interrupt your practice, careful consideration must be given to renovations and additions to keep your doors open during construction. If a renovation is not in your immediate future, a few simple cosmetic remodeling projects can go a long way. Participants will learn the keys to a successful project and the options to stay in business during construction.

12:35 – 1:45 pm Lunch Break (lunch in exhibit hall)

1:45 – 2:45 pm
Responding to Tomorrows Challenges: Five Things That are Changing Veterinary Hospital Design
Wayne Usiak, AIA
Maintaining profitability through efficient service delivery, attracting and retaining the best staff, and achieving a practice image consistent with the quality you deliver are all goals that remain constant. Doing this affordably, maintaining your edge with new technology, and understanding our multi generational society’s motivators, are current issues that complicate our main mission. Wayne will expand the dialogue on evolving challenges we must address to keep ahead, to help us refocus past peripheral distractions that cloud the primary issues. He will look at how today’s economy and emerging challenges like energy availability and cost influence our strategic and tactical decisions. Current new technologies we should investigate to address technology and environmental concerns will be discussed. Finally, he will present proven evidenced based design solutions we can incorporate to address core challenges.

2:45 – 3:00 pm Break

3:00 – 4:00 pm
Proven Materials That Work
Daniel D. Chapel, AIA
The selection of materials and finishes is one of the most important aspects of the design of animal medical facilities. Selecting materials and finishes for your veterinary hospital is a balancing act. You are balancing a material’s color and appearance against installed cost, life-cycle cost and durability. Mistakes made in finish material selection can result in a hospital that is unattractive and difficult to maintain.
During this presentation the dos, don’ts and pitfalls of finish material and color selection for animal care facilities will be discussed. The use of renewable, environmentally friendly, “green” materials in hospital design will also be highlighted. 

4:00 – 5:30 pm
Architects Panel Discussion: Putting It All Together
Daniel D. Chapel, AIA, Sal Longo Jr., Associate AIA, and Wayne Usiak, AIA

5:30 pm Adjourn

Design Conference Presenters
Daniel D. Chapel, AIA, is President of Chapel Associates Architects in Little Rock, Arkansas, a nationally recognized firm that specializes in animal facility design. The 32 year-old firm has assisted in the design of more than 575 animal care facilities. Projects include two Veterinary Economics magazine Hospitals of the Year and many “Designs of Merit” winners. Mr. Chapel is a nationally recognized expert in the field of veterinary architecture. He has served on the editorial board of Veterinary Economics magazine since 1985.

Gary I. Glassman, CPA is a partner with Burzenski & Company, P.C. an accounting and financial management consulting firm in East Haven, Connecticut. Mr. Glassman focuses on the field of veterinary practice management, and specializes in financial management and tax planning for veterinary practices and their owners. In addition, he has extensive experience in practice valuation, related practice sale, merger and acquisition activity, structuring buy/sell agreements, as well as hospital expansion and financing. He is a member of the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association (VHMA), the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), and the Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA). Gary is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Connecticut Society of CPAs. Mr. Glassman serves on the editorial board and is a regular contributor for the Veterinary Economics magazine.

Sal Longo Jr., Associate AIA is a co-founder and partner of Crosby Longo Architecture Studio, LLC, an architectural firm specializing exclusively in the design of animal care facilities for the past 10 years. He served as an adjunct instructor for six years at Tulane University School of Architecture, where he also received both his Bachelor of Architecture and Masters of Architecture. Crosby Longo Architecture Studio has received several ‘Veterinary Economics’ awards, including the “Hospital of the Year” award in 2000.

Wayne Usiak, AIA, NCARB, BDA Architecture, P.C.
Wayne designed his first animal hospital in 1977, and in 1981 won his first Veterinary Economics Hospital Design Award. In 1986, he founded BDA Architecture, P.C. to specialize in the design of animal care facilities. Since that time, over 500 successful designs have been completed in 42 states and 5 countries. The firm has been awarded 24 Veterinary Economic Design Awards, including Hospital of the Year in 1998, 2001 and 2007. In 1998 BDA founded CMP Inc, their in-house construction division. Since 1998 CMP has completed construction on over 40 veterinary facilities. Wayne is a member of the Veterinary Economics Editorial Advisory Board.

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