07/13/2023
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
As a follow up to a letter we posted several months ago, after the Covid 19 pandemic had ended, we recognize the need to update everyone about the current curb side only service protocol. For those who had the opportunity to read the first letter, the reasons why we are remaining curbside are the same, the only thing that has changed is the situation is much worse now, and due to veterinarian shortages is likely to continue worsening. The current and future curbside only service has nothing to do with the pandemic. Our employees wear masks not because of some mandate but rather by choice..
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about our curbside only service. I take exception to any suggestion that we don’t want owners to see us mishandling their pets behind closed doors. or,. that we are just being lazy. There is currently a severe shortage of veterinarians. This shortage is predicted to get worse. Many pets will go untreated, and some will die because of this. Because of this crisis we have requests for veterinary care from way beyond our normal service area. The only way we can accommodate the over abundance of critically ill patients, including your pet, is to increase efficiency. Curb side service has allowed us to operate efficiently, maintaining the necessary quality of care at this heightened volume. This also allows us to see emergencies and minimize appointment wait times. We learned several things from the pandemic. Our pet patients are much easier to examine, diagnose and treat with curbside service. Clearly this is because they are able to avoid the chaos and stress of a high traffic waiting room. The patients also act better and are much easier to handle without the owners present. The reason for this is unclear, but greatly contributes to a positive doctor patient relationship.
At the risk of sounding cavalier, curb side treatment allows us to minimize or eliminate engagements, discussions and conversations that are unrelated to the pet and case at hand. Inevitably we are sometimes forced to engage and interact to unrelated events, or otherwise come across as being rude. Think about how many people a client might interact with during a single visit, and the number of distracting engagements which can occur. Curb side allows us to extract and distribute information that is specific and relevant to the current patient and case.
Euthanasia presents a special circumstance. This is why we encourage our clients to utilize the amazingly compassionate services of Lap of Love. This way the procedure can be peacefully done in your own home.
As a veterinarian, I have cared for animals my entire adult life. It is my goal to give every patient the best veterinary care I am able. With the current veterinary medical environment, curb side service has allowed us to provide better care with less stress to the patient and makes it easier to provide that care. For those of you who understand and support our decision to remain curb side we applaud and appreciate your patience. Although it appears to be an unpopular approach, it benefits all patients, including yours. Those who don’t understand either never received or read the first letter, these reasons were spelled out then in detail. Since we do not anticipate much positive change in the foreseeable future, we are going to remain curb side. We will reevaluate again as things will hopefully change. We ask that in the meantime you review the reasons and submit to the many benefits.
J.R. Keith DVM
Tenino Vet Clinic
The original letter.
We at Tenino Veterinary Clinic have decided to offer post pandemic curbside only veterinary care indefinitely. This decision is in small part, due to a continued concern for the health and safety of our staff. Even though the pandemic has eased, we can ill afford to risk a team member’s health, wellbeing, or absence during this challenging period. We will continue to mask and social distance. Not only did we avoid a covid closure during the height of the pandemic, but we have all but eliminated other communicable colds and viruses amongst staff by these measures. With the heightened alert about covid, these other respiratory maladies can trigger the potential need for test and quarantine protocols which could cripple our ability to provide care. The continuation of curbside only service is however due mostly to some of the consequences of the pandemic, and from things we have learned in navigating the last two years in an unconventional manner.
One consequence of the pandemic has been the creation of a severe shortage of veterinarians and veterinary care. It is unclear why this has occurred, but for some reason we are still in the midst of a crisis. Clients are commonly waiting eight to ten hours in veterinary emergency parking lots, with no guarantee that their pet will be seen. Sadly, many pets die in their owners’ arms because the ER clinics are at “capacity”. Patients are being scheduled weeks to months out for issues that require immediate attention by their regular veterinarians. This scenario has caused our service area and clientele numbers to explode and continue to swell. Without curbside, we are simply unable to accommodate the sheer volume of patients and clients. Our facility is just not big enough! Even if it was, the chaos and resultant stress to pet patients would be extraordinary.
There is one valuable lesson we have learned from the unconventional practice of curbside service, and the one that serves us best in being able to continue to provide quality veterinary care against these overwhelming times. Most pet owners and most veterinarians were not aware of how much time and efficiency is afforded by separating owner and pet. Most pet patients are much less anxious and much easier to work with when owners are not present, even to the point of negating the need for anesthetics and hospitalization in patients who would otherwise require sedation to be examined and treated. A positive veterinary patient experience and a better treatment outcome are often the result.
Pre pandemic veterinary medicine was a lot more fun than it is today. We all miss the face-to-face personal interactions that we used to enjoy. Unfortunately, in the current critical environment, the time and empathy involved in these personal interactions, sometimes involving conversations and topics unrelated to the pet’s medical issues, negatively impacts our ability to deal with the complex medical needs of all our patients. Pet owners are generally unaware that the veterinarian is routinely simultaneously dealing with multiple emergencies while fielding questions from five active phone lines and questions and directives from staff. Personal interaction has become a luxury and a distraction we are just unable to continue if we are to continue providing service to this expanding clientele.
We realize that this policy will be unattractive to some. We would like those to be aware that it is this policy that allows us to see pet patients on an emergency basis who cannot be seen by an emergency clinic because they are at “capacity”. This is the policy that allows us to schedule a patient whose owner has called twenty veterinary clinics unsuccessfully, to have their pet seen, or to the client who is told, “no longer accepting new patients”. We attempt to turn no one away! The veterinarian will discuss diagnoses and treatment plans with the owner when necessary. The veterinarian also makes a point to introduce himself and meet and greet all new clients. Our main goal is to streamline the examination process so we may continue to accommodate the many needs of our expanding client base, maintaining efficiency and providing continued quality patient veterinary care.
Thank you for your time and patience
Sincerely
Tenino Veterinary Clinic
