Tuesday, July 25, 2006

2691 Trip Tale: The new veterinary hospital in Helsinki

On Tuesday we toured what is probably the finest veterinary hospital in the world--at least until the next one is built--having opened just this past spring. "The Veterinary Hospital serves the Helsinki region in all small animal or horse medical cases and the whole of Finland as a place of treatment for referred patients. The design of the new hospital building takes into account the needs of the future inmates. Particular attention has been paid to the adaptability of the premises." Annual Report

Riitta was still on call when we arrived on Saturday, and had just completed two major surgeries, and was called in the middle of that night for a third. I don't know if doctors of human medicine spend as much worry and angst over their patients as we observed with Riitta, with frequent calls to the hospital to check on her horses. When we toured the small animal and large animal sections, we not only visited her patients, but saw where the surgery and care takes place.

Riitta is looking for an internal medicine person willing to come for 2-3 years who has a Dip-ACVIM. Because this is a Finnish hospital one of the staff perks includes a lovely sauna.

This was an extremely sick animal, but was still alive two weeks later when we left. I won't even describe the surgery or post the photos!

No comments: