The American Animal Hospital Association awarded the eighth annual AAHA-Accredited Practice of the Year Awards during the AAHA Nashville 2017 Opening Session
Loving Family Animal Hospital of Aurora, Colorado took home first place for the general practice category. Animal Medical Center of the Village of Houston, Texas, was named finalist for the award.
The goal of the AAHA-Accredited Practice of the Year Award is to recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of accredited practice teams. Each entry was evaluated on their most recent accreditation score, mission and vision, practice design, practice team composition, continuing education and training, community service, and more.
Loving Family Animal Hospital of Aurora, Colorado took home first place for the general practice category
“These practices represent high-performing teams that dedicate themselves to practicing the highest standard of veterinary medicine day in and day out. I congratulate them on holding themselves to high standards and for remaining committed to the accreditation process,” said Michael Cavanaugh, DVM, DABVP (Emeritus), AAHA chief executive officer. “Accreditation is at the center of all we do at AAHA. We are proud to call these practices AAHA-accredited veterinary hospitals and hope that many more practices will follow in their footsteps of excellence.”
Accreditation is a voluntary commitment practices make to their clients and patients, and AAHA is the only organization in the United States and Canada that accredits companion animal hospitals based on standards that go above and beyond state regulations. The AAHA Standards of Accreditation, viewed as the standard of veterinary excellence, contain more than 900 individual standards. These areas of focus include patient care and pain management, surgery, pharmacy, laboratory, exam facilities, medical records, cleanliness, emergency services, dental care, diagnostic imaging, anesthesiology, and continuing education.
To maintain accredited status, these practices must continue to be evaluated regularly by AAHA.
The 2018 AAHA-Accredited Practice of the Year Award will be awarded in Denver in September 2018. Applications are now open and available to accredited practices on the AAHA website.
Not all veterinary hospitals are accredited. AAHA-accredited veterinary hospitals hold themselves to a high standard of care and strive to deliver excellent care for pets.