BILLINGS — A new emergency pet hospital is set to open its doors Friday morning on the Billings West End.
Clarity Pet Hospital, located at 1475 41st St. W., will look to fill a gap in the community and will remain open from Friday at 7 a.m. to Monday at 7 p.m.
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Owner Kayla Erickson said the hospital will focus more on emergency care and remain open on the weekends overnight to help Billings pet owners have an option.
"We're kind of a different business model than any other clinic here," Erickson said Wednesday morning. "My goal here is to have a stand-alone emergency center, and then we can offload some of those cases and help other vets have more time for general health."
Erickson, who was born and raised in Billings, said she hopes to lighten the load for current vets in the city. She's worked for the past few years as a traveling emergency vet and said a lot of those experiences are reflected in what she wanted to create.
"It was good to be out on the road and experiencing how other places did stuff," Erickson said. "I kind of picked up things from all of my different stops of what worked and what doesn't as well."
On Wednesday, Clarity Pet Hospital held an open house starting at 5 p.m. On Friday morning, it will officially open and Erickson's dreams of having her own hospital will become true.
"Every clinic serves a different need in Billings, so they are all needed," Erickson said. "I'm just here to offer a different service."
Just down the road, construction has begun on Rocky Vista University's first college of veterinary medicine. Founding Dean Dr. Robert Murtaugh said the more pet hospitals that exist in Billings will better benefit the students when classes begin in 2026.
"We want to provide opportunities for these students in the real world," Murtaugh said. "It's a little bit of a win-win. It's good for her to get some extra staffing and it's great for the students to see if they can handle what the life of a vet is like."
Murtaugh said that along with construction, there is still work that needs to be done. He said the school is working toward accreditation and making sure they are up to national standards and also looking at hiring around 20 faculty members. In total, each class will contain 125 students.
"We're going to focus on admissions that bring in students from this region and also try to find ways to incentivize them to stay in this region," Murtaugh said.
It's something that has become a need. Murtaugh said there's been a significant shortage in vets, not just regionally, but nationally.
"There's only currently 33 veterinary colleges in the entire country," Murtaugh said. "So, there's a shortage of veterinarians not only in the Mountain West but across the country."
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, progress is being made in battling that shortage. The association said that it's in large part due to the opening of new schools like the one at Rocky Vista.
"We want to work with the community, and give students a chance to be out in the real world," Murtaugh said.
An opportunity Erickson looks forward to, as she strides to continue enhancing pet care in her hometown.
"I'm excited about the partnership that could be formed there," Erickson said.
