PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital has been awarded full accreditation with honors from the American Animal Hospital Association.
The teaching hospital was inspected and evaluated this month by a team from AAHA, based in Denver. Its evaluation and accreditation of the WSU facility is the highest level of recognition achievable.
WSU’s animal hospital has been previously accredited under older guidelines, but in March 2003, AAHA imposed a more rigorous set of practice standards. The new evaluation criteria focus on veterinary medical care quality and client service. The new standards became mandatory for accreditation on Aug. 1, just before WSU underwent its evaluation.
The WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital is the first teaching hospital in any college of veterinary medicine to be evaluated with these new standards.
“The American Animal Hospital Association has recognized the excellent approach to veterinary care that WSU students, staff, and veterinarians provide as a matter of course,” said Warwick Bayly, dean of the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine. “No doubt, WSU’s passing score has set a new benchmark that will be difficult to surpass for the teaching hospital inspections that follow, but we will be aiming to do so.”
