History
1982 – Helen Phillips and her scatter-brained Irish Setter moved from Brisbane to Hall to be a vet locum.
1985 – Helen married Andrew Purdam.
1987 – Helen and Andrew moved into an 80 year old house in need of restoration at the corner of Hoskins and Victoria Street. With a house to restore, a vet practice to run and their first son, Glen arriving the year was packed full of adventure.
1988 – A growing son and a growing vet practice both needed more space and time, so Andrew stayed home to raise Glen and a dedicated surgery practice was built on the block. In 1990, son Joseph was born.
1988-1992 – One nurse/receptionist became two, then assistant vets were added on and pretty soon the surgery building also needed extending.
Helen enlisted the help of an associate, Beth Campbell, who was as hard-working as Helen, and the practice exploded, and even continued to grow when Helen took a year sabbatical in 1992. Some few years of growth later, the extension also needed extension, so the bullet was bitten and the decision made to replace the building.
1994 – draft plans for the new building commenced
1995 – construction began but was plagued by wet weather for some time. The business was run from temporary buildings in the form of demountables for some time.
1996 – the completed new building was invaded by a crew eager to vacate the temporary buildings.
Andrew – having become more free as the toddlers had grown into littlies – swapped nappies for papers and joined the gang as Office Manager, handling more and more bookwork.
2004 – Vet Lesa Potten (Briggs) joined us.
2007 – Lesa and Helen formed a partnership as Hall Veterinary Surgery. Their shared values in care for the pet, care for the client, continued Professional Development for all staff, has made it an easy transition to this new phase in the business.
2014 – Hall Veterinary Surgery added a second practice specialising in care for cats only. Canberra Cat Vet, located in Belconnen continues to grow with clients reporting how much more relaxed it is for their cats.
2017 – In October, Lesa became sole owner of Hall Veterinary Surgery after Helen sold her half of the practice. Helen has remained at the practice as a consulting vet, having swapped her admin time for a bit more consulting time, and continues to do veterinary volunteer work with AMRRIC and also overseas.
Hall Veterinary Surgery would like to thank all our past and present staff, clients and their pets and livestock for being part of this journey.