VEG Talks Expansion Across the US

Hi! My name is Morgan Bisceglia (pronounced Bish-elli), Director of Design & Construction at VEG. I’ve had the pleasure of watching VEG grow from 3 hospitals to 43+, and I’m excited to watch us expand even further.  My motivation and passion at VEG is simply loving what I do. It makes an impact in our VEGgies lives (yes, we call ourselves VEGgies), for people and their pets, and is revolutionizing the veterinary industry.

Here are some of my favorite things to do on the Design & Construction team:

Design

Design is a language – it communicates values, priorities, and intentions. Two of our core values of openness and togetherness are at the forefront of our design.

Openness

Openness is the root of our culture at VEG. Our hospitals are designed to allow us to reinvent the ER experience for the better. Thanks to our open floor plan, pet owners get an up-front look at life-saving efforts and downright heroism at work. We believe in openness beyond transparency and encourage customer involvement. Our doctors and nurses engage with our customers so that each pet parent can understand, see, and participate in all stages of care.

Through this participation and understanding, we fulfill our mission of “helping people and their pets when they need it most.” What’s more, the VEG experience includes customers jumping in to comfort other customers, and even assist VEGgies in a procedure. In short, customers get to be heroes too. Without our open floor plan, this wouldn’t be possible.

Togetherness

Togetherness positively affects our VEGgies, customers, and their pets. It fosters belonging, coping, collaboration, and learning. Our open hospital design promotes togetherness because it helps us work with our customers and take out the intimidation of being in an emergency situation. Our customers get to see how hard our VEGgies are working and how skillfully they’re handling every patient.

With openness and togetherness guiding our design, we think about ways to enhance the customer experience by envisioning the floor plan, walking through each step in our minds, and seeing it through the customer’s eye.  We’re not afraid to be different, when it has purpose.

A few examples:

• Large windows allow natural light to come through, and they’re paired with high ceilings so it feels airy and spacious.
• A doctor’s island that faces our entrance to ensure our customers see a doctor right away.
• A window into surgery so that customers can watch the procedure.
• Red treatment entrance door- aka the Portal of Power – because red means it’s where customers should be.

Working on floor plans for each VEG is a science and an art. It’s like playing a game of Tetris because every site has its own unique features. We pride ourselves on the homey, family-like feel of a VEG.

Construction

It’s amazing watching the building of sites and seeing them transform from a former restaurant, mattress store, bank, etc., into a VEG! Did you know that VEG Alpharetta used to be a hibachi restaurant or that VEG Dallas used to be a Samsung?

Similarly to Design, building VEGs has its own set of challenges too. You never know what you’ll find behind walls, such as structural columns that impact the way we designed a space, or a vault that can’t be removed because the previous tenant was a bank.

VEG is currently in 12 states with 43+ locations, and we will soon be entering new markets such as Arizona and Washington, while continuing to add to our VEGgie Gardens (states with several VEGs)! We are building the world’s veterinary emergency company and our mission is helping people and their pets when they need it most. If there isn’t a VEG near you, there will be soon!