A Black Diamond veterinary clinic is expanding to allow for large animal care on site. 

Construction on the Eastern Slopes Veterinary Services’ new facility began in early August, and clinic owners hope to open the new facility next fall.  

Clinic owner and veterinarian Dr. Ingrid Rozema said the new facility will allow the team to care for all sizes of animals under one roof, saving animal owners from having to take small animals to one clinic and large animals to another.

“I feel that it really helps the community when you’ve got the ability to service all of their animals and they don’t have to go elsewhere,” Rozema said. 

The clinic will move from 103 Third Street N.E. to the new location on First Avenue N.E, between Hard Knox Brewery and Tim Horton’s.

The new building will be 12,000 square feet and have four exam rooms, double the clinic’s existing building, along with space for full service large animal care. Rozema estimates the current building is 2,000 square feet.

Currently, the large animal vets on staff make house calls and work out of their vehicles, so the new facility will allow them to see more clients in a day and save on mileage costs, Rozema said.

“If you’re able to supply the facilities and not charge mileage, then I mean, that’s a win-win,” she said. 

Rozema, who started practising in Black Diamond in 2003, said community support has allowed the clinic to grow. 

“It’s been great having the community behind us and supporting us the whole way,” she said. 

The clinic originally cared for small animals, but expanded its services in recent years after a couple of practitioners who specialize in large animals came on staff. Rozema predicts an increasing demand for equine care in the Foothills and wants capacity to serve that growth. 

Other shifts in the industry Rozema noticed are more young veterinarians wanting to work in mixed-animal practice and clients preferring independently owned clinics over corporate chains. 

She said that corporate operations are buying many small animal clinics, but Rozema does not see that happening at the Eastern Slopes Veterinary Clinic.  

“We want to keep it privately owned,” she said.