By Carola Meusel
USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs Office
The Stuttgart Dental Clinic and the Stuttgart Veterinary Clinic officially celebrated their new facilities on Panzer Kaserne with a ribbon cutting ceremony last month.
While both clinics have been open for the past several months, the ceremony signified that the facilities are completely staffed and fully operational, according to Army Capt. Joseph Anderson, officer-in-charge of the Stuttgart Veterinary Clinic.
The clinics are co-located in Building 2996, but each has its own separate entrance, reception area, treatment rooms, laboratories and support offices.
“What a great facility,” said Lt. Col. Michael Elliott, commander of the U.S. Army Public Health Command District-North Europe, during the grand opening.
The 4,161 square-foot veterinary clinic invested $200,000 in new equipment to bring the facility in compliance with the Veterinary Medical Standardization Board and to better serve Stuttgart military community members, Elliott said.
“Our mission is to provide medical, surgical and emergency care to military working dogs and privately owned animals, those beloved four-legged family members of our Soldires, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and civilians serving in this great community,” he said.
Upgrades include a fully equipped in-house laboratory, an ultrasound machine, a computed radiography system, two examination rooms and a pharmacy, all designed to provide a safe and sufficient environment for veterinary care.
“The pharmacy and lab are now tied in with the front desk to allow for a smooth patient checkout,” Elliott said.
According to Anderson, the officer-in-charge of the veterinary clinic, the laboratory increases the clinic’s efficiency.
“We can now perform in-house testing. Before, we had to send blood samples to an external laboratory and had to wait days before receiving the results,” he said.
The most common medical and surgical services conducted on a daily basis are vaccinations, health certificates, surgical spay and neuter, and dental cleanings, Anderson said.
The Stuttgart Dental Clinic is one of the most highly advanced facilities in the military, equipped with $3 million of high-tech equipment, said Col. Michael Craddock, the dental clinic commander.
The 20-chair facility is filled with state-of-the-art equipment, including a cone-beam computed tomography system for 3D imagery and dental lab.
According to Sascha Kolanczyk, a dental lab technician, the process of making dental prostheses such as crowns and bridges is much faster thanks to the clinic’s new digital scanners and computer-aided design and manufacturing equipment that eliminates the need to take physical impressions.
“With the new technical equipment, we can make a crown within a day, so the time-saving factor is substantial,” Kolanczyk said.
The Stuttgart Veterinary Clinic is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m. The clinic is closed on U.S. federal holidays and the last business day of the month for inventory. To make an appointment, call, 431-2681/civ. 07031-15-2681.
The Stuttgart Dental Clinic is open Monday through Friday from 7:30-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-4:30 p.m. The clinic is closed on U.S. federal holidays..
Sick call is from 7:30-9:30 a.m. To make an appointment, call 590-2800/civ. 06371-9464-2800..