Port Royal Veterinary Hospital set for ‘soft opening’ after Tropical Storm Elsa damage
The Port Royal Veterinary Hospital is set to open its doors for a “soft opening” on Oct. 25, just three months after a tornado during Tropical Storm Elsa sent several trees crashing through its roof.
“It’s just crazy fantastic the way people in the community have come out to support us,” owner and veterinarian Marikay Campbell said Thursday.
Thanks to the efforts of the hospital and its community, Campbell said, they have been able to raise their goal of $100,000 for out-of-pocket costs for the renovations. Their “soft opening” includes appointments for vaccinations, annual exams and treatment for minor illnesses. For now, the facility cannot accept emergency or critical care cases, but they hope to be back up and running by December, according to Campbell. Any surplus from the fundraising will be donated to wildlife and local animal organizations, Campbell said.
“From the time we moved here, we have felt really at home in this community,” Campbell said. “We just want to continue to give back to that.”
Campbell, her wife Shelia Ellis and Robert Ellis, have run the facility in Port Royal since 2009. For them, Campbell said, seeing the damage was heartbreaking. The facility was relatively new and had just been renovated two years before the tornado on July 7. At the time, they had begun allowing clients to come into the building and were getting back on their feet after “the worst” of COVID-19, according to Campbell.
“To just be completely shut down and stopped cold ... it was really devastating,” Campbell said.
Looking on the bright side, she said, is what kept her going.
“We were able to start looking at things from a different perspective,” Campbell said. “None of the animals in hospital were injured, the tree didn’t hit the oxygen tanks so none of that happened, no one in Port Royal was injured in the tornado. [ We] started to focus on all of those things and that’s what has been getting us through.”
Initially, Campbell said, she worried if they would ever reopen. They were looking at an estimated $1 million in damages and needed beams for their roof that could not be found on the east coast, Campbell said. They had water damage and needed to replace surgical equipment. In August, a truck crashed into storage pods containing the equipment and tools that were salvaged from the storm.
“That was a whole other can of worms,” Campbell said.
The uncertainty was the worst part, she said, but the community support was “amazing” and has left her eagerly anticipating the “joyful occasion” that will occur when they do reopen.
“I am kind of awestruck at the way people have reached out and picked us up and helped us,” Campbell said.
