17 years ago I began job shadowing with my first veterinary mentor. I was a kid in high school with two grade mares that were my pride and joy. Dr. Schutz was my veterinarian and he welcomed me to tag along. I was enamored by the whole thing – the people, the animals, the change of scenery, the medicine, the quick pace, and the rapidly changing schedule. I never dreamed that I would one day be the guy behind the wheel of this very practice.
Here we are in the 7th year of running the business. My wife and I have poured our hearts into this business and community to try to build relationships and provide care to a diverse group of people and animals. Initially, our short term goal was to get my education debt and practice purchase debt paid off so that we were in a position to invest in the practice. By the grace of God, we conquered that debt, and are making some big changes for Foothills this year.
I have been exposed to the practice for 17 years now, and have had time to digest the things I would love to try to improve for our clients and to improve the quality of care we can offer. We’ve added imaging equipment, dental equipment, upgraded trucks, practice management software, hired a new veterinarian and technician, digitized lab results, and many other small things over 7 years. But the one need that has been a dream from my earliest moments with the practice was a hospital – a place to call home.
Time and time again I have reached the limits of what I can do for an animal in the field. We are fortunate to have a private referral facility within an hour of us, and 4 university teaching hospitals all within 3 hours drive. These facilities are large, with large staff, large overhead, and a cost of care that is not an option for many people. We meet horses who need 24-48 hours of IV fluid therapy and continual care, but the owners can’t afford the bill that is necessary to do such things at a referral clinic. There are some clients I would trust to manage a horse in their stall at home with a catheter, but those are very few. There are plenty of horses with bad wounds that need to be managed daily for a few days before the owner can handle bandage changes at home. There are calves with deadly diarrhea that need a stall for a night of fluids and rehab. There are goats that need bladder surgery to survive stones blocking urine outflow. There are potbellied pigs that simply need to be spayed in a surgery suite with appropriate anesthesia and monitoring. You see, these are things we are trained to do, things we have done. But, currently, we have to refer them away. For many reasons, these patients end up not getting care they need, or, even worse for sick patients, we are forced to euthanize an animal with a survivable condition.
Now, I am not naive. I know there will always be patients that we have to euthanize that folks just can’t afford to help. But, my vision for our office is that we build just what we need – meaning, we keep our overhead costs at a point that we can do many of these procedures at a price point that makes care available to more of our clients. We will have a surgery suite for our smaller patients (under 300 lbs), a few stalls, a set of horse exam stocks, cattle working facilities, laboratory space, in-house blood analyzers, a stockroom, a round pen for lameness evaluations, and office space.
I am not doing anything new here – there are plenty of primary care large animal practices that have a haul-in facility, just not in the 8 county area we service. This is not a referral hospital. We do not employ boarded specialists – so we will predominantly be providing care for our patients, not taking on cases for other veterinary practices. If colic surgery or arthroscopic surgery is in someone’s budget, the horse should go straight to a facility that can provide that service if it comes to that point. If these things are not in the budget and medical management is a financial option and a reasonable treatment plan for the patient, then perhaps we can make a difference.
Another benefit of the office is safety. There are plenty of standing procedures for horses that I can do with sedation on the farm, but there are some that are much safer in stocks. Dental extractions are one of those things. For cattle, hoof injuries or hoof trimming is something that can be done in a tilt chute much easier and safer than on the ground under heavy sedation, or with a foot tied up in rusted chute. The office will provide a safe place for us to work on some cases.
The office also offers convenience. Our hours are Monday-Friday 8a-5p. Most folks have to take time away from work for an appointment. The office provides an opportunity to drop off their animal and pick up for routine needs. It also provides some financial savings for clients as they don’t have travel charges associated with a farm call. For animals that need immediate care and can travel, there will certainly be times that the animal can be seen quicker if it comes to the office as our doctors cover a large geographic area and may be driving from the opposite end of the practice area.
So here we are, just weeks away from moving in to this hospital we have designed for our needs and our clients. We’ve been dreaming and planning for so long, it is hard to believe all of these pencil sketches are taking form. There are days it seems like nothing is being accomplished, and other days I just stand in the barn aisle looking around in silence and amazement of it all.
It is an odd feeling being at the end of a goal. I can remember a similar emotion near the end of veterinary school. When you’re so occupied with making decisions and planning and working at something, and then it happens, there’s almost an emptiness, a void, and restlessness in identifying the next thing that will satisfy the need to be busy and productive. The brain is a weird little mushy thing. We are probably conditioned to think this way from an early age, completing each grade in school to be promoted on to the next grade. Lord knows there is plenty to keep me busy at the farm when I am away from work and thankfully plenty of patients that need my attention when I’m at work. But, it is interesting that we have this need for another goal. It’s probably healthy, within reason.
I suppose that next goal for us will be selling our home and moving out to the farm. We love the farm and all of the joys, frustrations, and teachable moments it provides. I hope it always brings us the joy it has for these past 3 years.
Until next time. -J
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