In May of 1965, Dr. R. E. Bailey graduated from Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Soon thereafter he began practicing medicine out of his house, making house calls, and performing surgery on the kitchen table. Young son, Keith, was eight years old at the time and "helped" his father along with big brother, Stan.

When Dr. Bailey's wife, Betty, grew weary of the constant traffic and mess, he moved into the "garage" and soon found that what we thought was a dirt floor was only a six-inch covering of dust and chicken dung. It was a family effort but this building was soon converted to a humble little dedicated veterinary facility.

In a few short months the city of Tulsa got growing pains and our little country practice was annexed into the city limits. By the mid-seventies there were not enough cattle
and horses in the area to justify a mixed practice and we chose to limit services to small animals. About that time Keith left for college and began a long trek toward his doctorate in veterinary medicine with hopes to follow in his father's footsteps.

Keith graduated from Oklahoma State University's College of Veterinary Medicine in 1984. By that time the facility had expanded to a three-exam room hospital with separate surgery suite and pharmacy.

After a stint in Eastern Kentucky, Dr. Keith A. Bailey returned to join his father who retired a few years later in 1990. The practice philosophy remained much the same for the next decade, but as scientific and medical advances allowed for better patient care, Dr. Bailey began to explore different options in diagnosis and treatment. An office was added to the original facility, which totally hid the old rock building from the front.

The year 2000 marked the beginning of an intense trek toward the best modern medicine had to offer. After studying the benefits of in-house laboratory services, this option was added to the practice and the efficiency grew exponentially. No longer having to send blood out for routine testing procedures, the dreaded time element, so critical with many conditions, was narrowed from one or two days to less than half an hour.

While an outside laboratory remains essential for many parameters, the success soared so much that the doctor began studying cytology and, with the help of a dedicated microscope and a select few stains, has pursued in-house cytological screening. With this, it is often possible to decide, on the spot, which route to take in the case, and whether surgery and histological studies are in order. Certain organisms are also readily identifiable with this method.

Visualization of conditions and certain treatments have been enabled by the addition of video otoscopy for the ears and endoscopy for other areas of the body. Samples and biopsies are possible through these tools and they have dovetailed beautifully with the laboratory. With the increase in surgical procedures performed through these additions came the need for a more efficient anesthetic regimen.

Gas anesthesia is the safest and Abbott Laboratories had recently introduced a revolutionary new product, Sevoflurane. This is a very safe and easily regulated inhalation (gas) anesthetic, which allows us to fine-tune the depth of anesthesia to the specific procedure being performed. The condition of the anesthetized patient is watched continually with ECG, pulse oximetry, and blood pressure monitors.

It was soon discovered that an emerging new tool, the surgical laser, was the best answer for a number of old problems. The addition of this extremely high-tech instrument has allowed the treatment of a variety of conditions heretofore too cumbersome or messy for the general practice. This has led to an improvement in the quality of life like never before.

Our more recent advances include digital radiology and Stem Cell Therapy.

It is the mission of Southwest Veterinary Hospital to continue to strive toward the best in patient care using both good common sense and cutting edge technology. Dr. Bailey's younger son, David, has shown an interest in the area of animal medicine, and has been accepted into the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine. We anticipate to be serving our area for generations to come.