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CORVALLIS - A large donation announced today by the College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University will help continue an expansion of its educational offerings, research programs and facilities that is unprecedented in its history.

For a college that was once threatened by the state budget crunches of the mid-1990s, officials say, the turnaround in recent years is remarkable - and a testimony to the vision of Oregon public and political leaders who saw the need for a revitalized program of veterinary medicine in the state.

"People now realize that this college not only needed to be supported, but it needed to be expanded," said Dr. Howard Gelberg, dean of the college. "We're increasing our outreach activities in Portland, our broad public health initiatives, and serving the animal care needs of the entire state. We're producing more veterinary doctors, who are moving into a wide range of new and evolving animal care fields, and we continue to serve as the state's first line of defense against animal disease epidemics.

"In recent years, we've been able to leverage $4 million in state funds into a $24 million expansion program, largely by bonding and private donations, which is changing the face of veterinary medicine in Oregon," he said. "We found that our support in the state legislature led to even more generosity by private donors. And with this support, we're going to create new businesses, serve animals and their human companions, and expand our service and research."

The dramatic changes, Gelberg said, give Oregon a distinct advantage over many states - there are just 28 accredited veterinary colleges in the entire nation, only three of which are west of the Rocky Mountains. All of them are at enrollment capacity, no new schools are being built, and states without a veterinary college struggle to provide even a minimal level of education, research, and public services.

In Oregon, meanwhile, a noisy, dusty and long-overdue building boom is under way.

A new $14 million small animal teaching hospital is nearing completion, which will allow OSU for the first time to provide students all of their veterinary education needs, and permit cancellation of a cooperative agreement with Washington State University that had drained Oregon resources for decades.

Construction on a new $10 million, 30,000-square-foot expansion of the college's large animal hospital should begin by fall, 2005. This expansion was made possible by a $5 million challenge grant from the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation, and the new endowment from the estate of Lois Bates Acheson, a long-time supporter of the college.

It will feature a modern equine evaluation arena, a large animal isolation building and other clinical and research facilities.

The number of veterinary students enrolled in the college has been increased by 33 percent. Additional faculty positions are being filled in the companion animal medicine and surgery programs, and to meet critical needs in virology, bacteriology, medical imaging, and anesthesiology.

"We're still the smallest college of veterinary medicine in the nation, but that doesn't mean we won't be one of the best," Gelberg said. "The whole nature of veterinary medicine is changing across the country, and we're going to help lead some of those changes with our new programs."

The college's role in public health, for instance, is rapidly expanding, and the increasing concerns about terrorism and food safety have brought veterinary experts into new fields. "We run the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory as a service for the entire state of Oregon, and that's where we can test for such things as mad cow disease, West Nile virus, bird flu, or contaminated food products," Gelberg said. "Then there are terrorist concerns. About 75 percent of the biological agents used as weapons by terrorists are actually animal diseases, and the only experts really trained to recognize these agents are veterinarians."

The OSU college is assembling a "rapid-response" team that could get needed experts into the field quickly to help deal with a range of crises when requested by state and federal veterinary authorities, Gelberg said. Meanwhile, an increasing number of veterinarians are needed for the military, public health, research, and student education.

The expanding range of faculty at OSU will also be doing more studies relating directly to human disease. The new experts in such fields as bacteriology and virology will be involved in studies on such human health issues as tuberculosis, Chlamydia, herpes, HIV, and neurological diseases. And the college will develop a strong program to translate basic research findings into improved patient care, or new opportunities for applied research.

The traditional role of veterinarians in agricultural and companion animal care, Gelberg said, is also becoming more sophisticated than ever before.

"The human-animal bond is more important to many people today than it has ever been," Gelberg said. "You see this in the demand for increasingly sophisticated medical and surgical treatments for pets, things like total hip replacement in dogs, cardiac pacemakers, and cancer therapies. Our students need training in these areas. And in animal agriculture, we need more veterinary specialists than before in advanced agri-business operations."

Aside from the changing trends of the veterinary field, the OSU college is also increasing its outreach efforts. Within a couple years, in partnership with the Oregon Humane Society in Portland, a veterinary health center will open for the 13,000 animals it receives each year, staffed by OSU and Humane Society veterinarians and senior students.

The hospital will treat all animals owned by the Humane Society, and no animal will be euthanized because of a correctible medical, surgical or behavioral condition. The animals will get expert in-house care while students gain hands-on, closely supervised practical experience. This unique approach to veterinary medical education will also be associated with innovative features such as an Animal Learning Center, to increase client satisfaction with adopted animals.

"There are still more challenges to meet and issues to face in the future," Gelberg said. "We must somehow increase the federal level of support for veterinary education, research and public service activities, and there are new health issues we need to be active on. But there's no doubt that veterinary programs in Oregon right now are in better shape than they have been in a long time."