By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
ROBBINSVILLE — What began 11 years ago as a mobile surgical practice run from veterinarian Dan Stobie’s garage now has put down roots in Robbinsville with the opening this week of a $9 million, 33,000-square-foot medical facility billed as one of the world’s premier specialty-care and trauma hospitals for pets.
NorthStar VETS, a state-of-the-art 24-hour animal hospital at 315 Robbinsville-Allentown Road, is a Level 1 trauma center that will employ more than 150 people, including 25 to 40 veterinarians, and treat about 375 animals a week.
At a black-tie gala Saturday night at the hospital that was attended by more than 500 guests, Dr. Stobie, NorthStar VETS’ chief of staff, reminisced about his practice’s modest beginnings and his journey to reach this milestone.
”It’s kind of surreal,” Dr. Stobie said, looking up at the brand new two-story veterinary hospital after he cut the ceremonial red ribbon with his family, township officials and representatives from the Mercer County Chamber of Commerce.
”I began as a board-certified surgeon in 2000 that drove a truck to veterinary hospitals to do surgeries,” Dr. Stobie said. “It’s hard to believe that after all these years of planning and hard work, this dream has become a reality.”
Dr. Stobie’s original mobile surgery practice led to the opening in 2003 of his first veterinary hospital in Millstone Township, but it wasn’t long before the expanding practice outgrew that 5,100-square-foot facility. Planning for the new custom-designed hospital began in 2006, and the construction itself took two years.
More than 40,000 patients later, the new hospital in Robbinsville was scheduled to start accepting its first patients Wednesday, May 11, the hospital’s administrator, Brie Messier, said. The old hospital on Trenton-Lakewood Road in Millstone was scheduled to close for good on that same date, she said.
Working with referring family veterinarians, NorthStar VETS will be providing a broad range of diagnostic and treatment services, including cardiology, ophthalmology, radiology, surgery, internal medicine and physical therapy. In addition to cats and dogs, the hospital also will treat hobby farm animals such as goats, sheep and chickens as well as birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets and exotic pets, including reptiles.
Dr. Stobie said his new hospital is one of a select few in the world offering advanced veterinary services such as an in-house laboratory, CT scanner, MRI, critical care ward, dental suite, dialysis equipment, ventilator therapy, an avian and exotic animal microbiology lab, chemotherapy room, GI and respiratory isolation wards and an animal blood bank.
Other features include four surgical suites and recovery and ICU areas with radiant heat in the floors and heated cages for the animals. A special “comfort room” provides a place for people to visit with their hospitalized animals and a large multimedia second-floor conference room provides a place for the hospital to hold continuing education programs for veterinarians, technicians and the public.
The brief downpour that began just as the outdoor ribbon-cutting ceremony was getting under way didn’t dampen the spirits of the hundreds of guests who watched from windows inside the hospital or crammed under a huge banquet-size tent that had been set up on part of the driveway near the valet parking station.
Once Dr. Stobie and Mayor Dave Fried had given their welcoming remarks, and the Rev. Christopher Soleberry of the Hope of Glory Church in Jackson began to bless the building and the animals that would be healed within it, the rain stopped, and the black clouds parted as if on cue. With an “Amen,” guests stepped out from the under the tent, navigated the puddles and strode into the gleaming new hospital where catered food, drinks, music and tours were being offered.
Dr. Stobie and hospital staff proudly showed visitors around the environmentally friendly building, whose “green” features include abundant windows for natural lighting and a closed-loop geothermal heating and cooling system.
Plans call for eventually placing solar panels on the building’s southern exposure and a so-called “green roof” over the dog ward. (On a green roof, a waterproof membrane lines the flat roof so vegetation can be grown on it.)
The hospital was built on a 3-acre parcel where a circa-1760 farmhouse had stood, Dr. Stobie said. Although the house was too dilapidated to save, and most interior woodwork already had been stripped prior to the sale, some of the home and barn’s original bricks and hand-hewn oak trusses were salvaged, he said. These items were incorporated into the design of a wall in the hospital’s reception area.
”I also have the big double front doors that used to be on the house,” Dr. Stobie said. “They’re in pretty rough shape, though, so I have to get them restored, and then I’ll figure out where to put them.”
During the construction, great care was taken to protect the property’s 250-year-old copper beech tree as well as the mature oaks and other species dating to the 18th and 19th centuries, Dr. Stobie said.
”The configuration of the building is the way it is because of those trees,” Dr. Stobie said as he brought visitors on a tour of the hospital. “We designed the hospital around the trees.”
The hospital was designed by Jeffrey L. Grogan Architects, of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and built by Sweetwater Construction, of Cranbury.
Video tours of the new veterinary hospital in Robbinsville can be viewed on NorthStar VETS’ website: www.northstarvets.com/new_hospital.php

