As we cruise into the middle of May, we find ourselves
almost back to full strength, staff wise, at Crawford. There are still challenges to face as New
York prepares to move towards allowing certain businesses to start to open
up. Our goal and the goal of our upline
management remains to maintain staff safety while meeting the needs of our
patients and their owners. I can’t lie,
it has been a challenge for us and understandably a frustration for pet
owners. This past week saw two staff
members return to work and one more announce her intention of returning in two
weeks. We hope to welcome Dr. Wu back
from leave at the end of June. As the
staff ramps up, we are maintaining vigilance while keeping an eye forward to
the time when we can be back to a full-service veterinary practice.
So, what are we doing to move towards that goal? We have started to allow drop off
appointments in addition to our curbside check in appointments. This gives us greater flexibility to work in
sick animals rather than sending them away to specialty practices when that is
not indicated. This allows the pets to
be in a more familiar environment and helps contain costs. We have been working with a new urgent care
center in Carle Place for our after-hours emergencies when that is the appropriate
level of care. We have experimented with
different schedules during the day to see what gives the best capacity to care
for pets that need more immediate attention, while still providing the
essential preventative care so that we don’t see sick puppies from inadequate
immunization or a public health crises due to lapses in Rabies and
Leptospirosis vaccinations. We continue
to dispense parasite control for both internal parasites as well as fleas and
ticks.
As I was out today (social distance running) I thought how
thankful I am that so many of our clients are appreciative of the work that the
doctors and staff are putting in to help care for the pets in our area. I am also thankful for the support that we
have received from our field supervisors and corporate managers. Their compassion for your pets and our safety
have really helped us to maintain a safe, effective, and professional
environment at Crawford during this period of stressful crises.
