From Peace Avenue to Southeast Asia's Largest Veterinary Centre — The Prehistory of CityU's VMC

This article belongs to Module 11, "Medicine / Hospitals", of the City University of Hong Kong Unofficial History Archive (Part Three of the upper section). Cross-reference: veterinary-college.md (JCC's institutional establishment, accreditation, and the Cornell partnership) and veterinary-college-2.md (the current facilities of the VMC and its diagnostic laboratory).

In a single line: The forerunner of the CityU Veterinary Medical Centre (VMC) was the Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic (PAVC), founded in 1984^※ as Hong Kong's first clinic established by a local veterinarian. CityU acquired the practice outright on 1 September 2016^※; three years later it relocated and expanded to over 33,000 square feet^※, rebranding as the VMC and becoming one of the largest veterinary centres in Southeast Asia — carrying the teaching-hospital function for Hong Kong's only veterinary school.

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# 1. Before the Acquisition: What Was the Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic?

According to the official VMC history timeline^※, the Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic (PAVC) was founded in 1984 — the first veterinary clinic in Hong Kong established by a local veterinarian. Its founder was Dr. Phillip C.K. Mak. Per Dr. Mak's professional profile^※, he earned his BVSc from the University of Sydney in 1983 and completed an MVS at Murdoch University in 1996. Upon returning to Hong Kong in 1984 he opened the practice immediately, making him one of the first local veterinarians to go into private practice in the city.

Within the history of Hong Kong's veterinary profession, being "the first clinic founded by a locally trained vet" carries real weight. Before the 1980s, veterinary services in Hong Kong were delivered almost entirely by expatriate vets trained overseas; PAVC, founded by the home-grown Dr. Mak, represented the first step towards the localisation of the profession in Hong Kong. Some local media have likened it to the "Sanatorium & Hospital" of the pet-care world, which says something about its status as the industry gold standard.

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# 2. Three Defining Milestones for PAVC (2001–2008)

Before the CityU acquisition, PAVC underwent three pivotal upgrades that transformed it from a neighbourhood practice into a sector-wide referral-grade specialist centre.

The decision to introduce a dedicated veterinary MRI in 2004 was an industry first — at a time when MRI capacity for human hospitals in Hong Kong was itself relatively limited, PAVC was already providing neurological diagnostic imaging for cats and dogs. By the 2008 move to the 18,000-square-foot Ho Man Tin premises, the official VMC history timeline describes it as a "fully equipped clinic situated on Liberty Road in the Homantin area in Kowloon, was opened with facilities comparable to that of the best veterinary hospital in the world" — explicitly benchmarking itself against world-class veterinary hospitals.

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# 3. Why CityU? The Convergence of PAVC and the CityU Veterinary School Vision

Between 2009 and 2014, the link between CityU and the Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic existed well before the formal acquisition.

According to a CityU news item from 2010^※, as early as February 2010 CityU's then President, Professor Way Kuo, was invited to speak at PAVC's anniversary dinner — and it was PAVC founder Dr. Phillip Mak who, having learned of CityU's aspirations to launch a veterinary school, proactively extended that invitation so Kuo could share the vision. The connection was grounded both in a shared value system (to "nurture local veterinary talent") and in strategic complementarity: CityU brought academic resources and the drive for international accreditation, PAVC brought three decades of clinical experience and professional standing.

In 2014, CityU formally partnered with Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine^※ in the United States to establish a School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) — later renamed the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences (JCC; see veterinary-college.md for details). International accreditation standards for undergraduate veterinary programmes impose a strict requirement that students complete substantial clinical rotations in a real-world clinical setting. Building a teaching hospital of sufficient scale was a prerequisite for accreditation. Acquiring an already-operating clinic with a thirty-year reputation and a complete specialist structure in Hong Kong was faster, and more logical, than building one from the ground up.

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# 4. 1 September 2016: CityU's Outright Acquisition

According to the official CityU press release (31 August 2016)^※, The City University of Hong Kong completed its outright acquisition of the Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic (PAVC) on 1 September 2016, at which point the clinic was renamed the "CityU Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic (CityU PAVC)".

President Way Kuo was quoted in the release:

"The prestigious Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic has an impressive history of quality animal care service. The Clinic will play a significant role in the development of SVM."

Professor Michael Reichel, then Dean of the veterinary school, added:

"Exciting new and cutting edge specialties will be added in phases in response to the dramatic changes taking place in veterinary medicine."

The press release explicitly stated that the acquired clinic would operate on a model emulating the teaching hospitals of top veterinary schools in Australia and the United States — giving equal weight to "educational excellence" and "quality animal care service". With this, PAVC shifted from an independent specialist practice to the prototype of a university-affiliated teaching hospital.

At the time of acquisition, the clinic's operations remained at the Liberty Road, Ho Man Tin site (the 18,000-square-foot premises upgraded in 2008). It continued to provide clinical services to the public under the "CityU PAVC" brand while welcoming veterinary students for clinical learning. This transitional period lasted around two and a half years, until the new site in Sham Shui Po was ready in 2019.

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# 5. 3 April 2019: Relocation and Expansion — From PAVC to VMC

From 18,000 sq ft in Ho Man Tin to 33,000 sq ft in Sham Shui Po — the footprint nearly doubled.

According to CityU's opening announcement (28 March 2019)^※, the CityU Veterinary Medical Centre (CityU VMC) officially began operations on 3 April 2019, with an opening ceremony held earlier, on 27 March. Over 50 guests attended, including Council members, Legislative Council members, and senior CityU management. The Ho Man Tin site saw its final day of service on 30 March 2019^※, with the Sham Shui Po site opening on 3 April — allowing essentially zero downtime between the two.

The new location occupies the ground through second floors of Trinity Towers, 339 Lai Chi Kok Road, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, between Yen Chow Street and Kweilin Street — and remains the VMC's address to this day.

At the ceremony, President Kuo characterised the VMC with the old saying about grinding a sword for a decade:

"It takes ten years to forge a sword. I'm proud of our team, as the Centre is just like a sharp sword."

The "ten years" he referred to counts back precisely to the moment in 2009 when CityU first approached Cornell to begin planning the veterinary school.

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# 6. From PAVC to VMC: What Was Expanded?

The relocation was not merely a change of address but a comprehensive upgrade. Below is a comparison of the key parameters between the 2008 Ho Man Tin premises and the 2019 Sham Shui Po VMC:

One direct trigger for the relocation was that the lease on the Ho Man Tin premises was expiring — according to an HK01 report^※, then Veterinary Director Jonathan Speelman noted the old site "lacked the space for more equipment and diagnostic instruments", and the lease expiry offered a window for expansion. CityU, for its part, had long been planning ahead: choosing Trinity Towers and securing three connected floors was a deliberate move.

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# 7. The Teaching Hospital Rationale: Why "Acquisition + Expansion" Is Non-Negotiable in Veterinary Education

The flagship programme of CityU's JCC — the six-year Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) — received dual accreditation from both the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC) and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) in 2023^※, making it the first dual-accredited veterinary programme in Asia. Both accrediting bodies impose strict requirements for clinical teaching: students must complete a sufficient volume of case rotations in a genuine clinical environment and demonstrate "Day One Competences" — the ability to practise independently immediately upon graduation.

Without a teaching hospital of adequate scale and specialist depth, a BVM programme simply cannot meet the standard. The timeline of CityU's 2016 PAVC acquisition and the 2019 expansion into the VMC is closely calibrated with the BVM programme's developmental milestones:

• September 2016: PAVC acquired; that same month the BVM programme was approved, with admissions announced from September 2016^※.
• 2017: First BVM cohort enters, beginning the early phase of the programme.
• April 2019: VMC opens — aligning with the window when BVM students begin their clinical years.
• 2023: First BVM cohort graduates; dual accreditation takes effect simultaneously.

The caseload flowing into the VMC directly supports the clinical volume and case-mix diversity required for accreditation — in terms of volume, the VMC sees approximately 3,500 cases a month^※ (per the VMC website); in terms of depth, nine operating theatres, a 64-slice CT, a 1.5T MRI, and Hong Kong's first dedicated animal ICU expose students to complex cases they would never encounter in a small community practice.

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# 8. The Historical Significance of This Acquisition: How a Single Clinic Became an Institutional Asset

At its inception, PAVC was simply an ordinary pet clinic on Peace Avenue in Mong Kok. That it ultimately became the foundation for CityU's teaching hospital results from a convergence of factors:

A track record of technical firsts. The 2004 introduction of a dedicated veterinary MRI gave PAVC a technical edge over its peers for nearly a decade. By the time of the acquisition, its imaging and specialist infrastructure had acquired considerable depth; CityU did not need to build any of that from scratch.

A continuity of training culture. The 2001 designation as an official training centre by the HKVSB meant PAVC already had an embedded tradition of nurturing new veterinary graduates — a close fit with CityU's ambition of running a "teaching hospital", and one that minimised the risk of cultural discontinuity.

Early contact between the founder and CityU. It was Dr. Phillip Mak who reached out to President Way Kuo, connecting PAVC's clinical record with CityU's academic aspirations — a connection that began roughly six years before the formal acquisition.

Geographic and brand continuity. The post-acquisition name, "CityU Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic (CityU PAVC)", deliberately retained the "Peace Avenue" place-name — a highly recognised brand among Hong Kong pet owners, and retaining that thread of continuity helped sustain client trust. By the time the name changed to VMC in 2019, the clinic had been operating under the CityU banner for three years, making the rebrand a natural progression.

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# 9. A Timeline of Key Events

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# Sources

• CityU acquires prestigious veterinary clinic — CityU official news (31 Aug 2016) — Official
• CityU Veterinary Medical Centre opening announcement (28 Mar 2019) — Official
• CityU VMC history timeline — Official
• CityU Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic to relocate to Sham Shui Po next month — HK01 (Mar 2019) — Secondary
• Dr. Phillip C.K. Mak — Animal Medical Academy Hospital — Secondary
• CityU President lauds importance of Hong Kong's first veterinary school (26 Feb 2010) — Official