Veterinarians are spread thin in this county

Veterinarians are spread thin in this county
By Dana ColeHerald/Review
Published on Monday, June 25, 2007
SIERRA VISTA — Pet owners need to be aware of their veterinarians’ policies when it comes to emergencies, especially if they happen after regular hours when animal hospitals are closed.With a recent decline in the number of veterinarians serving the area, vet hospitals that once offered extended services to accommodate emergencies during off hours have been forced to cut back. While they still make special arrangements to handle emergencies, clients are sometimes referred to 24-hour emergency animal facilities in Tucson.

“If we had three or four veterinarians we could probably be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said David Bone, the veterinarian who owns Sierra Animal Hospital. “But I don’t believe any of the clinics in Cochise County have more than two full-time veterinarians, and the problem is getting worse, not better.”Local animal hospitals once staffed with several veterinarians have experienced reductions in the number of doctors. Some of the vets are retiring and some are moving out of the area. As they leave, there are no new practitioners coming in to replace them.“For example, Apache Animal Hospital had as many as four or five veterinarians at one time, and now they’re down to two,” said Mike Falconer, office manager at Sierra Animal Hospital. “And if you look at Cochise County in the past year, three clinics have basically closed.”There is a nationwide shortage of veterinarians, a problem that’s hitting rural communities hardest. In Arizona, the shortfall has become so dire that a Rural Affairs Task Force has been assembled, aimed at identifying the state’s most critically underserved areas.“The goal of the task force is to identify the underserved areas, and then see what can be done to help alleviate the problem,” said Emily Kane, executive director of the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association. “The task force is looking at a number of different things, hoping to come up with ways to attract more veterinarians into the underserved areas.”One proposal is the possibility of starting a vet school in Arizona. “Another vet school would help the state and national picture, but it’s something that we’re still researching,” said Karter Neal DVM, who chairs the task force. “There just aren’t enough vet schools to keep pace with the number of vets that are needed.”New Frontier Animal Medical Center, a busy small-animal practice in Sierra Vista, also is feeling the vet shortage. Down to one full-time veterinarian, Pam Drake, the hospital could easily use one more doctor.“People need to check with their own vet hospital so they are prepared in case of an emergency,” Drake advises. “Everyone should be knowledgeable about what steps they’ll need to take to care for their pets. Know the locations of the 24-hour emergency animal hospitals that your veterinarian recommends.”Tucson’s 24-hour emergency clinics are set up to accommodate critically ill and injured animals with around-the-clock supervision. While it’s a service not yet available in Sierra Vista, having emergency facilities in Tucson gives local veterinarians and their clients a viable option for treating seriously sick or injured animals that need extensive care and hospitalization.“There may well be times that the best place to be treated and the quickest way to get treated is to take the animal to an emergency center in Tucson,” Bone stated. “That being said, we often see genuine emergencies out of hours here at Sierra Animal Hospital for both our patients as well as those of other veterinarians. The only caveat we have is that the owners have to be willing to treat the animal and that it has to make logistical sense for us to seem them.”As much as local veterinarians and their clients would like to see an emergency clinic in this area, it’s not something that is expected in the near future. Falconer pointed out that, “As a rule, it takes 20 clinics to support a single emergency center. There are six small-animal clinics in Cochise County.”Drake maintains it’s one of the trade-offs of a rural lifestyle.“When you look at Sierra Vista geographically, it’s still a rural area,” she said. “And when you live in a rural area, these are the kinds of sacrifices you’re going to be making.”Herald/Review reporter Dana Cole can be reached at 515-4618 or by e-mail at dana.cole@svherald.com.