Veterinary Care & Specialty Group has more than tripled its space with the opening of a new facility on Broad Street this week, and is rapidly growing its staff to keep specialized pet care closer to home.
"I spent most of my time in large referral centers, and I felt like Chattanooga deserves that kind of care here without having to leave town," said Billy Pullen, the veterinarian who launched the practice in St. Elmo in 2016 with his wife, Claudia.
The practice moved this week to a new building on Broad Street from nearby Tennessee Avenue, growing from 4,100 square feet to more than 15,000, and hiring at a clip that will expand the staff from about 60 people to more than 100 by year's end, Claudia Pullen said.
"If it's my power to get Chattanooga a place that our pets deserve, then I'm going to do it," she said.
New employees include a neurologist who will move to Chattanooga from New Jersey, a surgeon joining the team from Florida, and a host of other veterinarians and support staff.
"We're hiring every day," Claudia Pullen said. "I've hired three nurses in the past week."
Dr. Pullen practiced at another specialty and emergency veterinary practice in Chattanooga for 12 years before he opened the St. Elmo clinic in 2016. Though there are two other emergency and specialty veterinary practices in Chattanooga, the expanded Veterinary Care & Specialty Group will redefine the options in the area for pets with serious medical issues or that need of emergency care, he said.
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Veterinary Care & Specialty GroupAddress: 3201 Broad StreetOnline: vcsgvets.com
"Being able to expand in size and personnel, we can offer options that are not available around here," he said.
People may come from outside the region for services, but the goal is to serve the local market so people don't have to drive to Knoxville or Atlanta, Dr. Pullen said.
"This is really for Chattanooga," he said. "You shouldn't have to drive two hours."
The practice will have full-time specialists in cardiology, dermatology, oncology, neurology, internal medicine, surgery and radiology. The new facility will take the Veterinary Care & Specialty Group from four exam rooms to 12, and from one operating room to four, Claudia Pullen said.
The practice has a full staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and operates its own blood bank and pharmacy.
The pandemic initially caused a brief slowdown in business, but then the facility was busier than ever, Claudia Pullen said.
"We're busting at the seams," she said of the St. Elmo facility where the practice began.
Once they opened in 2016, the practice expanded rapidly, drawing interest in part because they offer no-cost continuing education that features nationally prominent speakers, Claudia Pullen said. The first conference drew 12 people. The next year, there were 40, the next year there were 80. They ran out of chairs.
"People sat on the floor or stood up," Claudia Pullen said.
They'll continue that focus on education and community service in the new practice location - which also features a larger conference room for seminars and ongoing education.
"Billy and I wanted to put Chattanooga on the map for veterinary medicine," she said.
Contact Mary Fortune at mfortune@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow her on Twitter at @maryfortune.
