A longtime veterinary hospital is getting a new owner.

The Mahoning Valley Animal Hospital, built by Dr. Mary Lombardo in 1989 and operated by her since then, has been sold to a veterinarian from Myerstown, Lebanon County.Lombardo, named "Veterinarian of the Year" by the prestigious Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association in 2002, said she is retiring due to health concerns and will be moving out of the area.The new owner is Dr. Mike Nelson, a native of Connecticut who graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2003.He said he looked at several locations for an animal hospital and was impressed by the facility that Lombardo has produced.Presently Mahoning Valley Animal Hospital has nine people on its staff, including three veterinarians. The vets are Lombardo, Nelson and Dr. Casey Weiss, who works part time.Nelson said he will retain the name of the facility, located at 2967 Mahoning Drive West, Mahoning Township.Lombardo will remain at the facility for at least a few weeks.HistoryBesides running the animal hospital, Lombardo has vigorously involved herself in educating the public on animal care, especially on rabies prevention and the importance of spaying and neutering.She has operated an annual rabies clinic with the Mahoning Valley Lions Club for 26 years, and has given shots to several hundred animals at each clinic.She helped to create the Amazing Grace Spay and Neuter Program, which helps low-income residents with getting their pet dogs and cats spayed and neutered.Nelson said he plans to continue this program.Lombardo said of the Mahoning Valley Animal Hospital, "My goal was and is always to provide very good surgical and medical care to dogs and cats of the area."A native of Freeland, she and her husband, Joseph Zenon, moved to the Mahoning Valley after they got married. He was employed by Air Products.She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania is 1984 and then worked in several different animal hospitals.She told her father-in-law about the need for an animal hospital locally, and he built her the Mahoning Valley facility."We basically bought the property and turned part of the home into the hospital," she said. "We lived here and worked here."Her love for animals has taken her on several trips across the country.Twice she participated on tours with the Native American Veterans Services to reservations, once in Arizona and once in New Mexico.She adopted a dog while on her Arizona trip and named it Hopi, after the Hopi reservation.In 2009, she took part in a spay and neuter project for dogs that came out of puppy mills.There were about 50 dogs she treated. She also adopted one of these dogs, a Labrador retriever she named Emma, who is now 6 years old.In the community, she helped at many animal-related events including Polka For Pets adoption festivals.Time for changeAfter graduating from college, Nelson worked in Shippensburg, then went back to Wisconsin where he worked with three other classmates doing veterinary work.He moved back to Pennsylvania in November 2009."It's time for another change," he said. "Finding this place, I couldn't be happier."He and his wife, Kristen, have six children: Danielle, 16; Joseph, 14; Samantha, 10; David, 8; Abigail, 6; and Madison, 4."This is a great clinic," he said. "I looked at eight or nine clinics to buy and this was the best one. Maybe it was because Dr. Lombardo and her staff always practiced such a high level of care."He said, "My plan is to keep everything the same except improve with medical advances."He will be accepting new clients.Of her retirement, Lombardo said, "It's time for me to start a new chapter. I like to give 200 percent and when I can't do that, it's time to pass the torch.""I just thank everyone for bringing their pets here and entrusting me with their care. I'm just grateful that I had such a good career," Lombardo said.Mahoning Valley Animal Hospital is located at 2967 Mahoning Drive West (Route 443), Mahoning Township. Hours are by appointment, Monday through Friday. Call 570-386-3088.