ARISE exterior. (Images courtesy of ARISE Veterinary Center)

Arizona Regional Intensive Care, Specialty & Emergency (ARISE) Veterinary Center’s journey as a 33,000-sq-ft hospital originated from the need for more advanced specialty and emergency services for the Maricopa County, Arizona community. The $17 million, 2-story facility is the only Level I Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society–accredited hospital in Arizona. The building, now the Hospital Design360 Competition winner in the 8000+ sq ft category, boasts more than 30 examination rooms as well as “comfort examination rooms” designed for compassionate end-of-life care.

“Key goals with the hospital design [were] creating a specialty hospital within a limited footprint...therefore using a 2-floor design,” Brandi Mattison, DVM, DACVECC, critical care specialist at the hospital, told dvm360. “The population in Queen Creek, where ARISE is located, is one of the fastest growing towns in the country, so ability to expand as veterinary care demand increases was an important consideration.”

Arizona’s intense sunlight was another key design factor. To achieve a sustainable design that also maximized natural light, the design team incorporated large roof overhangs that shade the building’s primary windows throughout most of the day and year. These overhangs also created sheltered outdoor areas, including second-floor balconies. At the edge of the balconies stands a tall, glazed wall that protects patients and clients while offering striking views of mountains to the south. These balconies are one Mattison’s favorite design features.

“The design features I’m most proud of are the many large windows, multiple balconies, and vaulted reception area taking advantage of the beautiful Arizona...scenery,” she said. “This natural light lends itself to staff and clients experiencing a bright and inviting space.”

Another component of ARISE’s energy-efficient design is its heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. According to Melissa Burns, director of hospital operations, this system reduces energy use by moving air from clean spaces into “dirty” areas it has exhausted, easing the air exchange burden. The building is also divided into 38 thermal zones to improve comfort and cut energy waste. Special cooling areas use small, ductless cooling units, decreasing the size of the main air-handling units. The HVAC system also has energy recovery ventilation that preconditions air coming and a high-performance thermal building envelope that further lowers HVAC strain.

In the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), canine patients have direct access to a dedicated walking patio equipped with artificial turf, washdown capabilities, and sunshades. This ICU dog patio allows patients to relieve themselves comfortably without needing to be moved far from their care area. Additionally, the critical care space has a fishbowl that gives veterinarians visual access into the patient care area and isolation zones.

Smaller treatment rooms reduce noise and help calm patients

“Noise reduction is one of the most important features of this hospital,” Burns noted, explaining that every specialized service is carried out in a dedicated space. “Each area has its own adjacent animal housing, charting, etc. By creating smaller rooms for treatment as opposed to a large, open design, the patients remain quieter...calmer and more connected to their care teams, which also increases their safety.”

Apart from compartmentalized treatment areas, the design team devised a sound control wall system diagram that isolates noise from zone to zone. Moreover, the facility’s highly absorbent ceilings help reduce reverberation while sound lids further isolate noise.

Mattison describes the hospital as having a “bright, clean, and inviting” environment—features that she notes makes ARISE stand out from other facilities. “We utilized many plants and light to create a modern but “homey” and welcoming space,” she said.

Other features Mattison noted are a large conference room that doubles as a wet laboratory for teaching; a pneumatic tube system that transports specimens, medications, or supplies between floors; a central pharmacy with a walk-up window; and electric car charging stations.

On winning the Hospital Design360 award, Mattison shared, “It’s a great honor to be considered for this award, let alone to win it! For the team, it increases our pride in working at a hospital with cutting-edge equipment and design and sharing it with visiting veterinary students, as the hospital has a large teaching focus.”

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Hospital Design360 Competition winner: Inside ARISE Veterinary Center

When attendees aren't networking, exploring the exposition hall, or earning continuing education (CE) credits, there are special events and amenities to enjoy at this 

 conference. Here are 5 unique programs to watch for at the 2025 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

Fetch Kansas City symposium aims to empower women veterinarians

Photo: Kristen Coppock Crossley, MA/dvm360

Veterinary professionals attend an evening reception in the expo hall at the 2025 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.

When: Friday, August 22, 2025, at 5:30 PM-6:30 PM CDT

Attendees can wrap up the first day of CE sessions by sharing a drink and food with colleagues. This reception is also a good opportunity to network with fellow attendees and to meet with exhibitors who understand challenges in veterinary medicine and provide solutions.

When: Saturday, August 23, 2025, at 6:30 PM-10 PM CDT

Where: No Other Pub by Sporting KC (1370 Grand Blvd, Kansas City)

No Other Pub is a 10-minute walk from the Kansas City Convention Center, in the heart of the Power & Light District. Admission to the party is complimentary with a show of your conference badge. RSVP by adding it to a conference registration.

The establishment will offer light bites, games, and big-screen sports during the party. While attendees are playing games, socializing with professional peers, and eating and drinking, DJ Ashton Martin will provide music.

When: Sunday, August 24, 2025, at 12:15 PM-1:30 PM CDT

Where: Room 2501B at the Kansas City Convention Center

 recognizes peer-nominated professionals whose contributions to animal health care have advanced veterinary medicine and enriched patient lives. This year’s 14 winners were selected by a panel of esteemed judges across multiple categories for their demonstration of leadership, compassion, and dedication to improving patient outcomes. Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, chief veterinary officer for 

, will emcee the presentation of awards. Registered Fetch attendees are invited to be a part of this inspiring event.

When: Sunday, August 24, 2025, at 2:45 PM-3:45 PM CDT

Where: Room 2501 AB at the Kansas City Convention Center

Fetch Kansas City will end with a game show designed for attendees to test their knowledge, win prizes, and have fun. The audience is part of the show, as Fetch faculty make one last appearance as panelists, with Christman as the emcee. Participating CE speakers include Alex Sigmund, DVM, DACVO; Kate Lafferty, BFA, RLAT, CVT, VTS (Anesthesia/Analgesia); Joshua Broadwater, DVM, DACVO; Fred Wininger, VMD, MS, DACVIM (Neurology); Gianluca Bini, DVM, MRCVS, DACVAA; Natalie L. Marks, DVM, CVJ, CCFP, Elite FFCP-V; and Tannetje Crocker, DVM.

Where: Booth 1431 in the exhibit hall at the Kansas City Convention Center

No-kill shelter Wayside Waifs is bringing adoptable pets to the conference for a little feel-good therapy. Located in Kansas City, the shelter first opened in 1944 and partners with national welfare organizations to assist animals in dire situations. The facility offers a veterinary clinic to provide veterinary medical care that includes dentistry, surgery, exams, and more.

Along with providing snuggles for attendees, 

 is donating a blanket to the Wayside Waifs for every purchase made on-site at the Wag Shop that features exclusive Fetch merchandise.

Between attending these 5 events, veterinary professionals can enjoy even more entertainment and amenities. These include pet caricatures by artist Marietta, musician Dan Justice on saxophone, and chair massages.

Click here to learn more about Fetch Kansas City or register for the event.

Circle of care. Wayside Waifs. Accessed August 20, 2025. https://waysidewaifs.org/about-us/complete-circle-of-care/

When attendees aren't networking, exploring the exhibit hall, or earning continuing education credits, there are entertainment and wellness aspects to enjoy at this dvm360 conference.  

Five fun things to do at Fetch Kansas City

On August 19, 2025, the FDA announced that B. Braun Medical Inc (B. Braun) is voluntarily recalling 2 lots of its Lactated Ringer Injection USP 1000 mL and 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection USP 1000 mL to hospitals because of the presence of particulate matter in the containers.

According to the FDA release, the company identified the lots through complaints of particulate matter in solution.

 As of August 19, 2025, there have been no reports of serious injury, death, or other adverse events associated with the issue. However, if particulate matter is observed before use, a brief delay could occur while obtaining a replacement product. If loose particulate is infused into a patient, there is a risk that the material could enter the circulatory system, potentially resulting in harm that may require additional medical intervention and could lead to permanent impairment or death.

The following products are affected by the recall and are used as a state indication and packaged in a state type of packaging, including the number of units and any associated codes

 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection USP 1000 mL

November 15, 2023, and September 25, 2024

There is a reasonable probability that the product could cause pulmonary embolism, occlusion of other blood vessels, and/or phlebitis. Foreign particles infused intravenously can also cause systemic immune activation, organ dysfunction, and hemolysis.

Customers and distributors of B. Braun are being notified by certified mail, and product returns are being arranged. If a distributor has an affected product, they should cease use and distribution and quarantine the product; do not destroy it. Any customers with questions about this recall should contact the B. Braun Recalls Department between 9 AM and 5 PM EST at 844-903-6417.

Anyone who has received the product should contact their health care provider if they experience any issues that could be related to its use. Quality problems or adverse reactions may be reported to the FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online, by regular mail, or by fax.

This notice was shared by the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine because these products could be used in veterinary settings.

B. Braun Medical issues voluntary nationwide recall of Lactated Ringer’s Injection USP 1000 mL and 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection USP 1000 mL due to the presence of particulate matter. News release. FDA. August 19, 2025. Accessed August 21, 2025. 

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/b-braun-medical-issues-voluntary-nationwide-recall-lactated-ringers-injection-usp-1000-ml-and-09#recall-photos

The company voluntarily recalled its 2 lots of product due to potential health risks. 

B. Braun Medical Inc issues voluntary recall of 1-L Lactated Ringer and saline

Danielle DeCormier, LVT, VTS (Oncology), has been a licensed technician for more than a decade and has held a veterinary technician specialist credential in oncology since 2018. Based in Michigan and Virginia, DeCormier is the current director of clinical services education for MedVet—a role she took on in 2022.

DeCormier also serves as the current president of the Michigan Association of Veterinary Technicians. She is also a member of the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America, the Academy of Internal Medicine Veterinary Technicians, the Veterinary Cancer Society, and Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society. Moreover, she became Fear Free-certified in 2017.

Since 2020, DeCormier has been the director at large for oncology at the Academy of Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technicians. She regularly speaks at national and international conferences and has contributed to various veterinary publications. Known for her expertise in oncology, DeCormier is also dedicated to furthering the education of veterinary assistants and technicians.

For 6 years, DeCormier served as a reviewer for the Magic Bullet Fund, a nonprofit that provided financial assistance to families seeking cancer treatment for their pets. The fund, which closed in 2024 after helping nearly 900 families over its 20-year history, was dedicated to making oncology care more accessible to pet owners in need.

For half a decade, DeCormier worked with BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She joined the network in 2016 as a licensed veterinary technician, working her way up to regional training partner and regional nursing partner.

No longer in clinical practice, DeCormier is now a compassion fatigue educator, advocating for veterinary well-being. Through her work, she helps veterinary professionals address compassion fatigue and burnout. Her lectures focus on chemotherapy, well-being, training, and leadership, and help professionals manage the technical and emotional demands of their work.

Danielle DeCormier, LVT, VTS (Oncology) wins the 2025 dvm360 Veterinary Hero award in the veterinary technician category.

2025 Veterinary Heroes: Danielle DeCormier, LVT, VTS (Oncology) (Veterinary technician)

Constructing the first comorbidity networks in companion dogs in the Dog Aging Project (DAP), a study that was recently published in the open access journal, 

, analyzed 26,614 dogs and their health conditions to reveal diseases tend to go together. Through this data, veterinarians and researchers can utilize it to help treat canine health issues.

“Because pet dogs share our homes, environments and many of our age-related diseases, mapping how their illnesses cluster and cascade offers a powerful window into the same multimorbidity processes that erode human health and points to earlier detection and prevention strategies for people too,” the researchers noted.

When humans and their dogs begin to age, conditions and diseases will accumulate. However, according to the research, some are more likely to be comorbid than others. To help gain a better understanding of which conditions could occur in these canine patients as they age, the researcher Antoinette Fang from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington, and her colleagues used owner-reported data from dogs across the Dog Age Project, which is a long-term study tracking the health of dogs as they age. The researchers then collected data on 160 health conditions from the dogs participating and created comorbidity networks demonstrating which diseases tend to show up together in dogs, and in what order.

“Mining owner-reported data from the Dog Aging Project, we built the first large-scale canine comorbidity network, confirming that diabetes often occurs before cataracts and revealing that health problems tend to cluster around a few key diseases as dogs age,” the authors of the study noted.

These new networks noted some expected comorbidities, such as diabetes co-occurring with blindness or dogs with kidney disease also tending to have hypertension. However, new connections presented themselves within the data, including an association between low iron in the blood and excess protein in the urine. The researchers also noted that when the diseases occurred, it showed dogs tend to suffer hip dysplasia prior to osteoarthritis, dry eye syndrome before ulcers, and diabetes before cataracts.

 This current study relied on client reports and the authors hope that these associations and networks will be able to help guide veterinary teams and give aging researchers some new ideas to improve the lives of aging dogs.

“When we split the data by life stage, we saw disease webs become denser and more centered on a few key conditions as dogs grew older, echoing patterns seen in people. Together, these findings show that network analysis of large pet-health datasets can guide clinicians, inform breeding and prevention strategies, and ultimately improve the wellbeing of both dogs and humans,” the authors stated in their summary.

The data for this research was collected using the Health and Life Experience Surgery from the 2021 DAP Curated Data release and was in support by the National Institutes of Health U19- grant AG057377 (DP, KC, JM), and by additional grants and private donations, including generous support from the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, the Tiny Foundation Fund at Myriad Canada, the WoodNext Foundation, and the Dog Aging Institute.

 Each funder had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

A new network could help predict health problems in your pup. News release.

. August 14, 2025. Accessed August 20, 2025. 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1094069

Fang A, Kumar L, Creevy KE, Promislow DE, Ma J, the Dog Aging Project Consortium (2025) Constructing the first comorbidity networks in companion dogs in the Dog Aging Project. PLoS Comput Biol 21(8): e1012728. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012728

An analysis of more than 26,000 dogs could give veterinarians and researchers data to help treat canine patients. 

Network offers early warning system for canine health

, host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, welcomed Rhys Giannarelli to the show to talk about the importance of understanding what the true cost of having a team at a veterinary practice looks like. Throughout the episode, they discuss not just salaries but also benefits such as retirement contributions, payroll taxes, sick days, and more, as well as why it is crucial to budget for these costs, which can be up to 30% of payroll. 

Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity.

Let's talk a little more about that with budgeting, too, because this budgeting system seems to work across the board. What is it about this system that makes such a big difference for business owners [in] day-to-day operations?

It uncovers the invisible costs. It's something...we just didn't know about. But once we've outlined a...blueprint of what each thing can cost a practice per employer, nothing gets slipped through the cracks. It's basically a checklist. You say, "This is how much this person gets paid [and] how much that person gets paid. This is what they get allocated for each thing." We'll talk about doctors in a second, but it gives you a yearly or a monthly snapshot with no more guessing.... You know exactly what each person is going to cost, and [there is] no surprise at the end of the year because, again, you've budgeted for this. It's...fine to understand or just report what you have paid somebody in that moment, in that month, in that biweekly payroll, but you still need to be able to budget for the future. That's something that I preach a lot about. Owners and managers can confidently assign pay rises, hiring, or equipment replacements, and budget for taxes. This is something that we just don't do, which we should or [pay] for.... Actually, there is no limit when it comes to budgeting itself; it's just a matter of identifying what those margins are.

Podcasts

Discover how to accurately budget for veterinary team costs, including salaries and benefits, to avoid surprises and enhance practice management.