11/04/2024
Today we have an important, but somber post.
As some of you may have heard, Tender Touch Veterinary Care in Slinger abruptly closed a couple of weeks ago, and we have recently found out that the owner, Dr. Sue Fluhr, has since passed away.
Dr. Sue was a wonderful person, veterinarian, and friend, and she will be deeply missed by all that knew her.
We have had the privilege to work with Dr. Sue professionally over the years as she battled through various health issues, and their treatments and recoveries. We have been helping with her surgical cases for over a year, as surgery had become too difficult for her to continue to perform. We had a very good relationship with Dr. Sue on a professional and a personal level, and we are so very saddened by her loss.
We have been getting inundated with calls, emails, and messages from Dr. Sue's clients to help with their pets' needs, and we truly are doing our best to help everyone we can, however, we are bound by law in some instances, such as filling medications that we did not prescribe. Legally we cannot fill medications that were not prescribed by us if we have never seen the pet for a physical exam.
To help rectify this, we are trying to offer brief exams to establish care for the patients that are in need of medication refills. Please note and understand that these are only BRIEF exams. They are not meant for sick pets that will need extensive work-ups. This is solely to establish care and determine if we can appropriately fill the medications that are being requested.
If a pet is sick or needs a further workup and/or diagnostics, we will try to set that appointment up as soon as our schedule allows, as that requires more time with our doctors and support staff.
As many of you know, we are booking out several weeks for routine appointments for our previously established clients. We do try to leave openings available for urgent or emergent cases throughout the week, but we were not fully prepared for the influx of new clients/patients looking for care.
We do not want our established clients to suffer and have longer waits to get in to see us, but we also want to help the many Tender Touch clients that are now looking for care elsewhere, as this situation is just as difficult, if not more, for them as it is for everyone else.
We have reached out to clients and friends of Dr. Sue to see if there is a way the medical records that she kept can be released to her clients, as this would greatly help us, and any other veterinary clinic that takes on that client base, and we are willing help get medical records to those clients in any way that we can.
***TO CLARIFY***
We do not have any of Dr Sue’s patients’ medical records!
Our understanding is that her clinic and its belongings are being handled by an estate, and it will likely take some time to sort everything out. So there may not be an immediate release of her patients' medical records. If we hear any updates on this matter, we will post them.
As we navigate this time as a clinic, we may have to adjust our normal operations a bit, which may mean shorter appointments with the doctors so they have more time to see the additional clients. We understand this may not be ideal, but none of this situation is, and if we are going to try to help those that need it now, this may be part of the short term solution.
We do understand that we need another Veterinarian, and we do have ads posted to find one, but as many of you know, there is an overall shortage of Veterinarians in general. So it isn't as easy as one may think (but please feel free to spread the word that yes, we are hiring for a Veterinarian).
We truly have such amazing clients, and we have no doubt that you all will understand that we are going to be doing the best we can to continue to serve you all, while also trying to help those now displaced clients that also need help.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate this time together, and as we mourn the loss of a beloved friend and colleague.
Thank you,
Your friends at Tillie Lake Veterinary Clinic
