Dr. Alecia Naugle, Professor and Chair, Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University
Many rural areas across Ohio and the United States have limited or no veterinary services for livestock and horses. These gaps in service directly impact the health and welfare of animals, and weaken surveillance for infectious diseases, increase the potential for zoonotic diseases in people, and compromise food safety and security. Without intervention, Ohio and Ohio's agriculture industry is at risk.
Ohioans rely on food animal and equine veterinarians to safeguard our robust $125 billion agriculture industry. Unfortunately, nearly 1/3 of Ohio's counties are USDA-designated rural veterinary shortage areas and research indicates an overall shortage of 600 to 1,000 veterinarians in Ohio by 2030. Gaps in our veterinary workforce will exacerbate challenges in animal and human health, particularly in rural areas where veterinary access is already limited.
The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, the only veterinary college in Ohio, is essential to expanding Ohio’s veterinary workforce that protects our economy, promotes food safety, and prevents infectious disease outbreaks in animals and people. The college is requesting an additional $15 million per year over the FY 2026-2027 biennium to help launch Protect One Health in Ohio (OHIO).
The Protect OHIO initiative has three pillars with specific goals for each (Figure 1):
- Educate more Ohio veterinarians to serve rural and large animal needs
- Enroll up to 35 more Ohio students per class year.
- Enhance student education, mentoring and other support programs by adding additional faculty and staff.
- Expand large animal hands-on training and rural community immersion opportunities.
- Mentor and support large animal and rural veterinarians
- Build a pipeline of Ohio students interested in careers in large animal and rural veterinary medicine by partnering with schools and youth development programs like 4-H and FFA.
- Provide scholarships for veterinary students interested in rural practice.
- Collaborate with rural communities to create financial incentives to recruit graduates and support sustainable veterinary practices.
- Establish an Emerging Infectious Disease Center
- Expand proactive research on top-priority diseases for animal agriculture in Ohio.
- Strengthen disease monitoring and risk assessment to detect and respond to threats early.
- Work with Ohio producers to support best practices that reduce disease transmission risks.
Partnerships are essential to the success of Protect OHIO. Through building connections and relationships with individuals, organizations, and communities, we will design and deliver programs that encourage and incentivize students to enter veterinary medicine and animal science fields and return to large animal practices and other related jobs in rural Ohio. The College of Veterinary Medicine will:
- Collaborate with the College of Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and OSU Extension.
- Engage with Ohio’s agricultural and livestock commodity organizations, including producers, veterinarians, and rural communities. Examples include Ohio Cattlemen’s Association, Ohio Dairy Producers Association, Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio Pork Council, Ohio Poultry Association, and Ohio Sheep Improvement Association.
- Develop relationships with rural communities and their civic organizations to explore innovative models for practice ownership and financing to enhance recruitment and retention.
- Engage funding agencies focused on workforce development in rural communities, such as Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, American Farm Bureau Federation, Farm Journal Foundation, and JobsOhio.
- Create a network of large animal veterinarians in Ohio and engage them in veterinary student mentoring and externship programs.
- Develop curricula, experiential learning activities, and career exploration materials for guidance counselors in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Education, public schools, and youth agricultural programs, including 4-H and FFA.
The Ohio Senate is currently deliberating the state operating budget, House Bill 96, which includes funding to support the Protect OHIO initiative. The legislature is expected to agree on the final version of the budget by late June, where it will then go to Governor DeWine to sign the bill with any line item vetoes by June 30.
To learn how you can advocate for this important initiative, visit the Buckeye Government Advocates website.