I built the clientele from scratch. It grew, slow and steady, until 2008. – Bob Baugher
Middlefield Veterinary Clinic, tucked away in the corner of the village plaza at 15967 East High St., will have a new location and five times as much space by next summer.
Bob Baugher, a doctor of veterinary medicine, said the 900-square-foot clinic was big enough when he set up practice in 1995. Dairy cows constituted the majority of his patients.
“I built it on the basis of dairy farms,” he said, adding he spent a lot of time on the road. The office was primarily a pharmacy and provided care for a few dogs and cats.
“I built the clientele from scratch. It grew, slow and steady, until 2008,” Baugher said.
That was the year Jenny Hardesty Dunlap, DVM, came to the practice to take over part of the large animal load and increase the small animal practice.
Over the years, the number of dairy farms in the region has decreased, but the demand for equine veterinary services has grown to take its place, Baugher said.
Sheep, goats and beef cattle are often on his agenda for farm calls, as well.
He credits a shift in animal owners’ priorities for the change in his patients’ species.
“People are treating their animals more as pets than they did years ago,” Baugher said, adding that extends to various fowl as well.
“We get chickens brought in here quite a bit,” said Dunlap.
She said she has noticed an uptick over the last few years in farm dogs and cats being brought in by concerned owners for better medical care.
Baugher is one member of a partnership called Countryside Veterinary Services, formed in 1982. The other two partners are Jeff Williams, DVM, in the Jamestown, Pa., office, and Jeff Clayton, DVM, in the Kinsman office. CVS also has offices in Garrettsville, Champion Township and Akron.
Baugher said demand for animal care has blossomed as people are more concerned about their four-legged or fine-feathered friends and because veterinary medicine has made great strides in the last 20 years. Demand for a vet’s services far exceed spay, neuter and vaccinate, with testing, equipment and treatment for animal ills mirroring that used for their human counterparts
“People who take care of their pets take really good care of their pets,” he said.
In 2012, Dunlap took over the growing small animal practice while Baugher continued with farm calls in a territory that extends from Kirtland to Meadville, Pa., to the Mahoning County Line.
It was about then it became apparent a larger facility was needed in Middlefield.
“I credit Jenny with us having to build a larger clinic,” Baugher said.
So the practice has purchased about 3 acres on Springdale Avenue across from Walmart and construction on the 4,727-square-foot facility will be starting this fall. Baugher said they hope to be in the new office by late spring or early summer.
“We’re very excited,” Dunlap said, adding the staff of one receptionist and several technicians are looking forward to the expansion.
Chances are good the clinic will take on another vet and additional support staff, and Baugher said he expects to continue covering the large animal end of the clinic.
Once the dust settles, Middlefield Veterinary Clinic will be open some evening hours and every Saturday, Dunlap said.
