‘We see about 15,000 patient visits a year’ Gulf Coast Humane Society plans to build new veterinary clinic

At a workshop Monday afternoon, the Fort Myers city council approved the Gulf Coast Humane Society’s request for additional land for future expansion.

Gary Willoughby, the Executive Director for the Gulf Coast Humane Society, said they acquired 3 acres back in January to build its new veterinary clinic.

“There’s such a demand for veterinary care. Our regular Veterinary Clinic has probably more than a month wait to get an appointment,” said Willoughby. “There’s a veterinary shortage, but also just not enough space. We only have four exam rooms that are at our current clinic. And so our new our new location will have eight exam rooms,” Willoughby said.

It’s overkill for us to keep emphasizing the number of animals that pass through this no-kill shelter.

“Every time that I think that I want to adopt another dog, I usually come back here. So yeah, don’t waste any time. These dogs need help,” said Lee County resident Margarita Aponte.

They see about 15,000 patient visits through their veterinary clinic every year, and they hope to double that number soon.

Their new facility will be 10,000 square feet and give them the opportunity to provide more resources and to help more animals.

“There’s really an increase in need for our spay/neuter clinic. And for our wellness clinic that’s open to the public, as well as shelter medicine, we need more space.” Gary Willoughby, Executive Director for the Gulf Coast Humane Society.

In a given year, GCHS performs around 8,000 spays and neuters and they hope to increase that number to 9,000 or 10,000.

“We’ll be able to have a lot better areas with animals that come in that are sick. To be able to keep them isolated and not have to send them to other doctors or even have to turn them away just because we don’t have the space,” said Willoughby.

At a workshop Monday afternoon, the city approved the humane society’s request for an additional acre and a half, but they don’t plan on building on the land at this time.

“We don’t plan on building on that immediately. It allows us to grow in the future as the community continues to grow,” said Willoughby.

“The humane society provides such a great service, not only to the city of Fort Myers but the regional area,” said Mayor Kevin Anderson.

The hope is that the new clinic will be groundbreaking this fall and open in the fall of next year.

Right now, they’re in the design phase and working on raising money for the new facility.