The Edgefield Animal Care Center in Marion, Ohio cares for animals in all aspects with its fully functional animal hospital including boarding, grooming, and obedience training. Edgefield's Morton veterinary facility may be fairly new, but the hospital's primary staff is definitely not new to the veterinary world. Edgefield's doctors and master canine trainer are working together as a family-a real family, which includes Dr. Ryan Lust, DVM, Master Canine Trainer Robb Lust, and their father, Dr. Jack Lust, DVM.

Living in a farm family, the Lust brothers have always been around animals and have grown up around veterinary medicine because their father has been in practice for 25 years, according to Robb. He joined his father in 1991 and his brother, Ryan joined the father and son team in July 2000, Robb said. Robb serves as Edgefield's obedience trainer and hospital manager while Ryan practices veterinary medicine with his father.

Edgefield's previous animal hospital was growing quickly and "we just ran out of room," Robb said, The hospital did not want to add new services, just more space, he explained. A couple years before the completion of the new building in 1997, Robb and his father began thinking about the type of building design they wanted. They looked at veterinary magazines for ideas and they also looked at Veterinary Economics' hospital design section each month, Robb said. After the design was in the works for a couple of years, they began searching for a builder and found that Morton Buildings could work most easily with the design they wanted. Morton was also the best in cost effectiveness, he said.

The local Morton Sales Consultant from Kenton, Ohio really helped a lot, Robb said. The Sales Consultant basically took over the spot of general contractor and dealt with all the subcontractors. The Sales Consultant also helped suggesting design options, such as proposing the hospital add brick wainscot and brick on the front of the building, Robb explained.

The first thing people notice when they walk up to the building is the covered entrance and vestibule entryway to keep heat or air conditioning in, Robb said. Once inside the building, the lobby has a circular flow of traffic to keep things running more smoothly. The hospital part of the facility includes a pharmacy and lab behind the exam rooms. This area then opens on to a large treatment area, which is the focal point of the hospital, he said. Any surgery or outpatient treatment is done in this area and it is designed with a lot of space for staff to move freely without getting in each other's way, Robb explained. The X-ray room is also located in this central area, he added. Kennel wards and an intensive care unit are also at quick access from the treatment area. The ICU kennel is very helpful in separating animals to prevent disease or for animals that need extra care, Robb said.

The non-hospital part of the facility includes a grooming room, training room, and a boarding kennel. The facility has grooming services available with a window so clients can watch their pet being groomed, Robb said. The training room is a large room used for obedience and specialty training. Robb is capable of search and rescue training, handicap training, police canine training, and obedience training. However, most of the training done at Edgefield is for obedience, he said. Robb also offers educational information to clients about pets. For example, he often educates clients about different dog breeds or helps families choose the right pet.

Edgefield's large treatment area with surgery and outpatient capabilities is the focal point of the hospital. The space is large enough for staff to move freely and work without getting in each other's way.

The hospital has about 8,000 clients total and the doctors each see about 20 clients per day, Robb said. While Edgefield usually only treats smaller animals, they have had their share of exotic animals in the hospital, he said. They have treated bears, cougars, exotic birds, lizards, and snakes. When the circus was in town once, Edgefield staff even treated a camel for a problem with its eye, Robb said.

The Edgefield staff is still very happy with the outcome of their veterinary hospital and the way the structure is built.

"We've had a lot of clients walk in and say the place is nicer than their own doctor's office," Robb said.

Two or three other veterinarians have visited the Morton facility and have been very impressed with the structure, according to Jack Lust.

"I would highly recommend anyone who's looking into doing a structure of any kind, to contact Morton Buildings and I think you really get a good bang for your buck," Jack said.