Veterinary Services
From the treadmill and surgery recovery pool for horses to consultations for the Commonwealth's agriculture industry, New Bolton Center offers a world of premier services.
Widener Hospital is now offering ophthalmology services, including surgery. To make an appointment or take advantage of our eye emergency services go to www.vet.upenn.edu/widener/services/ophthalmology.htm
Section of Large Animal Medicine
The entire staff of the Section of Medicine is board certified in internal medicine and is recognized internationally for its expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of medical disorders of all large animal species. These specialists diagnose and treat animals with medical problems including neurologic, respiratory, ophthalmologic, gastrointestinal, muscular, infectious, hematologic, renal and endocrine disorders. Patients not requiring hospitalization can be seen on an outpatient basis, while those animals with more severe or complicated conditions receive around-the-clock care in our hospital barns, intensive care unit or isolation facility.
Section of Emergency, Critical Care and Anesthesia
In addition to emergency services, this section of board-certified specialists provides care for the most critically ill animals in the Hospital. It also includes the anesthesia service. This unique structure ensures unparalleled interaction among specialists in several areas, including medicine, surgery, critical care and anesthesia, resulting in optimal care for the most complex cases.
The intensive care unit consists of a specially designed neonatal intensive care wing and a surgical medical intensive wing. This one-of-a-kind facility allows staff to monitor all patients from a central nursing station. The ICU also has a fully stocked pharmacy, intravenous infusion pumps to deliver medication as carefully controlled continuous infusions, a plasma bank, milk bank and colostrum bank serving all large animal species. Monitoring equipment includes ECG monitors, capnographs, pulse oximeters and direct and indirect blood pressure monitors.
The Connelly Intensive Care Unit for adult patients is equipped with a specially designed sling and monorail system that moves non-ambulatory patients in and out of the ICU. The climate-controlled building includes scales in the floor that allow for monitoring patient weight gain and loss, vital for regulating fluid balance in critically ill patients. All stalls in both the adult and neonatal wings are equipped with oxygen, medical air and suction lines to treat intensive care patients.
The Hospital's Graham French Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is designed to accommodate the special needs of critically ill neonatal patients. It has wall mats to prevent injury, hardware for hanging intravenous infusion pumps, hot air blankets and other specialized equipment in each stall. Ventilators offer support for patients with respiratory problems. Specially designed stalls allow mares to see their foals without disrupting the neonate's medical care.
The Section of Surgery provides sophisticated services utilizing techniques such as arthroscopy, endoscopy, laparoscopy, laser and cryo-surgery.
Widener Hospital's surgical suite in the C. Mahlon Kline Orthopaedic & Rehabilitation Center has state-of-the-art equipment for complex fracture repair and special air handling capabilities to minimize surgical site contamination.
The Hospital's expertise in equine orthopaedic surgery is enhanced by its unique pool recovery system, first implemented at Widener Hospital for Large Animals by one of equine surgery's leading pioneers and innovators, Dr. Jacques Jenny. With this system, which has been successfully used for 30 years, horses with serious fractures can safely recover from general anesthesia. Horses awaken suspended in a large rubber raft floating in a heated pool. When fully awake, the horse is lifted out of the pool to a standing position so that it never has to struggle to rise to its feet, thus avoiding further inquiry.
Widener Hospital's outpatient surgery is equipped with state-of-the-art video-endoscopes for examination of the upper and lower respiratory tract, esophagus and stomach. Many procedures previously requiring general anesthesia and prolonged hospitalization can now be done on an outpatient basis under sedation and local anesthesia.
Working together with the Hospital's Section of Emergency, Critical Care and Anesthesia, Widener Hospital surgeons are leveraging advancements in the management of horses with colic to save them from life-threatening abdominal diseases.
Section of Reproduction
The Section for Reproduction provides comprehensive reproductive services for mares and stallions. Based at the Georgia and Phillip Hofmann Center for Animal Reproduction, the section's clinicians have extensive clinical experience enhanced by the latest in research and technology. The section's faculty members are board certified by the American College of Theriogenologists.
The section provides a wide range of reproductive services, from natural breeding to advanced assisted reproductive techniques like embryo and oocyte transfer. Stallions are a specialty and the section has extensive experience in dealing with male fertility and behavior problems; its equine behavior service is considered one of the best in the world.
At Widener Hospital, reproduction specialists work closely with board certified surgeons and internists to provide comprehensive care for dystocias and other reproductive emergencies. The section's ongoing basic and applied research contributes to the advancement of the theriogenology specialty. Providing service to the North American animal industries is the Reference Andrology Laboratory. This laboratory provides complete testing of semen from mammalian and avian species which serves as an aid to practitioners working on reproductive issues.
Widener Hospital's High-Risk Pregnancy Program manages the mare that may have problems with foaling. The ICU is equipped with a specially modified ECG telemetry unit used to monitor and record up to eight fetal heart rates simultaneously without disturbing the mares. Stalls housing the pregnant mares are equipped with low light cameras to monitor signs of labor in a natural setting.
Section of Sports Medicine and Imaging
The Section of Sports Medicine and Imaging is a multidisciplinary group consisting of board certified internists, surgeons, radiologists and exercise physiologists who evaluate the equine athlete. This section specializes in the clinical evaluation of lameness, prepurchase and poor performance examinations in horses, as well as providing for all large animal cardiac, ultrasound, and digital radiographic examinations. Nuclear scintigraphy and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) provide additional imaging modalities, which can further define specific abnormalities.
The diagnostic ultrasound, cardiology and exercise physiology facilities are housed in the Scott Equine Sports Medicine Building. The medical imaging archiving and viewing system enables clinicians to view all imaging examinations from anywhere in the Hospital, and provides medical quality images for teaching students, interns and residents.
Farrier Services
The farrier service is internationally renowned for its pioneer work in remedial and rehabilitative equine shoeing. Glue-on shoe technology and the utilization of synthetic polymers in the construction of limb and hoof supports and braces have become routine components of large animal therapy.
Section of Pathology
The Large Animal Pathology Service provides complete necropsy and biopsy services both to the patients of New Bolton and referring veterinarians throughout the state. Immunohistochemistry adds a special dimension to Widener Hospital's diagnostic service and to the work of University researchers. This special staining technique uses color-labeled antibodies to identify infectious agents and special cell components in histology sections.
The laboratory at the Hospital is a member of the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System (PADLS) in which veterinary specialists provide a completer panel of affordable diagnostic tests in the disciplines of toxicology, virology, bacteriology, serology, poultry medicine, aquaculture and field investigation. The PADLS system enables Widener Hospital to identify and rapidly respond to animal health threats (e.g., epizootics, bioterrorism, foreign animal diseases). Post-mortem examinations often provide a sense of closure to those who have lost a valued animal.
The William Boucher Field Service
The William Boucher Field Service provides routine and emergency health care for equine and dairy clients within a 30-mile radius of Widener Hospital. The group's equine specialists offer preventative health care, reproductive services, evaluation and treatment of lameness and on-farm diagnostic services.
Nursing-An Indispensable Resource
New Bolton Center, partnered with Harcum College, led the way in institutionalizing the veterinary nursing profession, requiring a high level of credentialing and certification for its nurses. These graduates, with a degree in veterinary technology, are well-known for their superior nursing services. New Bolton Center veterinary nurses assist with emergencies, diagnostic procedures and treatments, working closely with veterinary specialists within all clinical sections.
