Building a dream… from the ground up.

Welcome to the official blog site of Priority Pet Hospital.  Join us over the next 120 days and watch our practice grow from an empty “gray shell” into a dream five years in the making.  Gilbert, Arizona’s, newest veterinary practice is coming to life on the southwest corner of Queen Creek Road and Val Vista Drive, in the Basha’s Vista del Oro shopping center; we look forward to meeting you–and the four-legged members of the family–in December, 2007.

We picked up the keys to the future (yes, that’s really them at left) at mid-day yesterday and opened the door to suite 108 for the first time this morning at 6 am.  Walking into the 3200 square-foot cavern, our first reaction was “it looks so small!”  But we knew better—after all, our own home would fit in that space two times over.  Clint, our project supervisor from GMI General Contractors, said our response was typical.  “Once the framing is done, and you can walk from room to room” he told us, “you’ll think it’s huge.”  Then, as the drywall goes up and the rooms take shape, it will shrink in our minds once again.  When it’s complete, it will be exactly what we need to support the high level of care and personal service we are dedicated to providing.

As Rana (our six-year old Deutsch Drahthaar) milled about the shell, Clint went over a variety of details and questions he and Gary, our general contractor, had after reviewing the architect’s plans.  Marty and Stacy at Fifer Design Studio in Mesa helped us put together an exciting space plan:  a dramatic yet comfortable reception area, four welcoming rooms for examinations and consultations, an in-house laboratory and pharmacy, digital X-ray facilities, a spacious treatment room overlooking glass-fronted patient wards, and a surgical suite with room for state-of-the-art anesthetic and monitoring equipment.   However, when architects’ visions butt up against contractors’ reality, there are always a few questions, and our new home is no exception.

We left our meeting with a box full of samples—countertops, door frames, paint chips, even ceiling tiles!—who’d have thought someone has to pick out ceiling tiles!  While there’s still a lot of work to be done, at long last, we’ve pushed this big rock to the edge of the hilltop—and it’s starting to roll!