(RALEIGH) -- Earlier this month, the Blue Ridge Wildlife Institute moved into a new facility at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk.

The new Dan and Dianna May Wildlife Rehabilitation Center includes separate rooms for the kinds of animals, an I.C.U. for severely injured wildlife, and a public viewing area so visitors can observe and learn about native species in the area.

Center Director Nina Fischesser says providing a place for people to do the right thing with an injured animal is part of a larger picture.

"That goes much wider than just a single person having compassion. People identifying with an animal, all animals, and wanting to help them."

Animal naturalist Savannah Trantham of the Western North Carolina Nature Center in Asheville says the facility at Lees-McRae is the only place in that part of the state that can treat bird injuries.

"If they didn't take them ... that would leave the public with having to figure out what to do with them."

Fischesser adds that she hopes people realize there is a place to take injured birds, groundhogs and other wildlife rather than leaving them to suffer with their injuries in the wild.

The center is larger than the old trailers that previously housed the institute. It also provides an opportunity for students at the college to receive hands-on training in animal rescue.