Friday's dedication of a new campus veterinary facility was punctuated by swanky jazz, distinguished guests and a photo-friendly ribbon-cutting.
It was an elegant ceremony for a center that will soon house critically ill and contagious large animals.
"The animals we get to see here are particularly ill, often critically ill," said Fred Derksen, large animal clinical sciences professor. "By early diagnoses and treatment, we'll be able to prevent these diseases from spreading to other animal populations."
The program for the opening of the Matilda R. Wilson Pegasus Critical Care Center included six speakers and tours of the building.
The free-standing structure is located on Bogue Street next to the main Veterinary Medical Center.
During Friday's dedication, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon presented David Hempstead, president of the Matilda R. Wilson Fund, with an award, making the foundation part of the William J. Beal Society.
That distinction is reserved for donors who have given at least $10 million to the university.
Over the past 20 years, the Matilda R. Wilson Fund has donated $10 million to the College of Veterinary Medicine, including $3 million for the new 9,000 square foot critical care center.
The fund's other investments in the college include endowed research projects chairs and the newly established Matilda R. Wilson Scholars program - a $2 million gift that will pay for two resident veterinarians each year.
Wilson, who served on the MSU Board of Trustees from 1931-37 and is the namesake of Wilson Hall and Wilson Road, left most of her estate to the foundation when she died in 1967. The center was named after one of her driving horses, Pegasus.
The critical care center features 10 isolation suites for individual animals. The suites feature a stall for the sick animal, a prep room for the veterinarians and an intermediate room where feed is brought in from the outside through a separate door.
Each stall has its own ventilation system and cameras inside the stalls allow staff members to monitor the animals from outside.
"Before, we haven't had a really superb isolation facility," said Lonnie King, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine.
The center will likely be filled to capacity during foaling season in the spring, King said.
Young calves and foals are particularly susceptible to contagious sicknesses like E. coli and salmonella since their immune systems aren't fully developed, said Lisa Lunn, assistant professor of large animal clinical sciences.
The animals need to be separated from the rest of the herd, Lunn said.
"It's for the safety of all the other animals more than the animal that's sick," she said.
The center will begin operation in November.
The critical care center is one of three facilities recently constructed for the College of Veterinary Medicine on campus. The $58 million Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health opened in September 2004, and the $13 million Center for Comparative Oncology will be finished later this year.
