Henry Ford Hospital, in Detroit, Michigan, is a medical teaching and research institution, with over $20.650M in total animal research funding in 1990, $9.836M of which is NIH funded. The NIH 1991 funding is anticipated to reach $11,063,087M. The animal resource facility (Bioresources) provides veterinary and technical assistance, housing, care, surgical and postoperative support for laboratory animals. Although currently AAALAC accredited, correction of deficiencies in the physical plant is essential to maintain accreditation and meet the needs of the growing number of NIH funded programs in this institution.
The specific aims of this proposal are to: 1) Replace the faculty ceiling which is non-compliant with standards. In our AAALAC site visit exit interview of 11/14/91, we were informed that the facility ceiling was deficient. 2) Resurface deteriorated flooring which is permeable to moisture and is not easily sanitizable. Flooring which was given a thin epoxy top coat in 1986 have delaminated in many areas, which we have patched as a temporary measure. It is much less expensive to resurface sound flooring, as intact flooring does not require removal. It would be financially prudent to correct this before damage accelerates. 3) The purchase of 10 additional rabbit racks would provide more housing capacity and a more humane environment for the animal. Although we have purchased 19 rabbit racks during the last four years, elimination of deficient caging has diluted the benefit of these purchases in increasing rabbit housing. Also, we consider the units we propose to purchase to provide a more humane environment for the animal. Henry Ford Hospital, in addition to excellent clinical programs, has fostered an academic research environment as demonstrated by the 243.2% increase in NIH funding since 1985. The strong commitment to the animal resource facility is evidenced by the capital expenditure over the last five years, which is 23.7% above the operating budget of Bioresources during that period. Financial assistance would expedite our ability to restore the physical plant to compliance, allow Bioresources to meet basic housing support of existing NIH funded projects and enable Henry Ford Hospital to continue its expansion in the medical research arena.
