The James M. Moran Jr. Critical Care Center, the newest facility at the New Bolton Center, has been built to emphasize biosecurity in large animal veterinary care. The center, located on the Kennett Square, Pa., campus of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, will be celebrated at an open house for the public on June 5 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and private donors, who included Mrs. J. Maxwell Moran (Betty Moran) of Paoli, Pa., provided for the facility. It is named in honor of Moran’s son, who was a close friend to Penn Vet, in recognition of his passion for the breeding and racing of Thoroughbred horses.

The Moran Center was built to provide the campus with a building that has the design and the capacity to care for the numbers of critically ill patients admitted to the George D. Widener Hospital, which sees approximately 6,000 patients annually. It offers an unprecedented level of biosecurity for the most at-risk population, thereby protecting not only those animals, but also the patients in New Bolton Center hospital facilities.

"The way that animals are moved, the way veterinary hospital stalls are cleaned, the way staff moves from stall to stall, even the way air circulates all offer opportunities to limit the movement of infections organisms about hospital wards," said Helen Aceto VMD, PhD, director of biosecurity at New Bolton Center since 2004