The grand opening of a new surgical facility for horses was celebrated in Centre County on Wednesday.

This hospital expansion has been in the works for years. And now, Abington Equine Hospital can begin to close the service gaps in this region's horse health care.

6 News toured the facility.

"Horse owners in this area have to drive [an] hour and a half, or even three, to get certain services — surgical in particular," Dr. Cat Radtke told 6 News. "So, that is oftentimes too long for a horse."

Radtke, the lead surgeon at Abington Equine Hospital, has been working on this expansion since about 2016.

"It's a state-of-the-art building that we've put up," said Radtke.

The facility at 156 Abington Lane in Patton Township has 12 stalls of different sorts, for horse patients: two induction stalls, two recovery stalls, and two surgical suites, along with six surgical stalls. There are also two treatment rooms, where medical officials can perform endoscopy, digital radiography, and dental exams, among other things.

"It's just not the type of facility we've ever had in this area before," the lead surgeon noted. "And I guess that was really what I was looking for was kind of an underserved area that could benefit from surgical expertise."

As they cap off this expansion, Radtke said there's always room for improving their services and for further expansion.

"[We're] definitely looking at expansion in the next few years," she explained.

"What other kind of support can we offer? Do we add an MRI first, a CT first, a medicine barn first? Things like that."