The Westville Veterinary Hospital is a landmark on Jan Hofmeyr Road in Westville, having been established in 1967 by Dr Duff MacMillan. We take a trip down memory lane and discover more about this renowned pet hospital.
In the early days of Westville, the only tar road through the village was the main road to Johannesburg. The houses were built on large stands in a very rural setting, with some homes keeping horses, cows and even pigs. There is still evidence of stables in existence to this day.
After Dr MacMillan had purchased the land at 31 Jan Hofmeyr Road, he built the first version of the current hospital and it has since remained a landmark.
Dr Baker joined the practice for a short while before leaving to open his own practice and was followed by Dr Rick Petersen in the early 70s. Dr Peterson went on to swap positions with Dr Brightman who was in Pietermaritzburg at the time. It was during the MacMillan/ Brightman partnership that the practice began to shift focus and started concentrating on small animals.
Dr’s MacMillan and Brightman opened their first branch practice in Malvern and it was then that Dr Braam Bezuidenhout joined the group.
In 1974 Dr Lilienfeld opened a competing practice in Westville North (Blair Atholl Veterinary Clinic) and a year later the three practices amalgamated. The new partnership decided to call the business Westville Veterinary Hospital instead of using the partners’ names which was customary at the time.
At this stage, Dr Bezuidenhout had taken up an academic position in the department of anatomy at the University of Ondersterpoort, and the partners opened a fourth practice in Pinetown and called it the St John’s Veterinary Clinic.
In the mid-1980s Dr Alan Isdale and Dr Brian Maxwell became partners. Dr Lilienfeld took time off from veterinary work and project managed a new Westville Veterinary Hospital building, complete with automatic opening doors, a fishpond, and a marine tank in reception. Further alterations to the practice were carried out in 1997 where the fishpond was replaced with a retail area, and in 2003 an additional level was added making provision for the admin block.
By 1992 Drs Kavonic and Wimberley had become partners and an additional branch had been opened at Sherwood. The Sherwood branch eventually became the night clinic which allowed vets at Westville respite from night work. In those days, nights and weekends had become very busy.
The Wandsbeck Veterinary Clinic was purchased in 1991 and became the fifth branch in the group.
In 1996 change came to Westville Veterinary Hospital when three partners left – Dr Brightman to Knysna, Dr Maxwell to the UK and Dr Kavonic took over the St Johns Veterinary Clinic as his own business. This left Drs Lilienfeld, Isdale and Wimberley as partners in the business.
A business decision was then taken to focus on one location, namely the Hospital itself. The branch clinics were gradually sold or closed, leaving only the Wandsbeck Clinic which was ultimately closed in 2005.
Dr Lilienfeld retired in 2008 and his place was taken by Dr Richard Smith. In 2012, Dr Isdale retired and his place was taken up by Dr Willem Vergeer, making up the current partnership of Drs Wimberley, Smith and Vergeer.
“Since the very beginning Westville Veterinary Hospital has made an effort to be innovative. We were one of the first veterinary practices to incorporate a specialist pet food shop; to employ a dedicated Practice Manager; to go fully computerised; to have veterinary staff in corporate uniform; to run a veterinary ambulance and a grooming parlour. We were the first in KZN to offer diagnostic ultrasound (1995) and more recently Computed Tomography (CT) services. Since 2018 the Hospital runs 24/7, 365 days a year with a full after hours emergency team” said the partners.
The staff compliment has increased to over 65 people including vets, nurses, kennel staff, receptionists and office staff.
At their 55th celebration, the partners said they owed a great deal of their success to their colleagues from all over KZN who have supported and referred patients to them over the years. “For this we are extremely grateful and are committed to continuing to serve our colleagues and our community to the best of our ability.”
