Local after-hours veterinary clinic starts taking patients!
It has been a long time coming, but we finally have an after-hours veterinary clinic for pets in the Quinte area. I should probably wait until the open house, take some pictures, be able to tell you all about it after a first-hand look, but the news just wouldn’t keep. The doors opened to patients May 25th, with our own Dr. Adrianna Sage at the helm for the first night.
Located in Rossmore, just across the Bay Bridge from Belleville, the new facility was set up by area veterinarians involved in Kingston’s out-of-hours clinic. It was established to provide pet owners in Hastings, Prince Edward and Quinte West with a new alternative for after-hours veterinary care. The Pet Hospital of Prince Edward and Hastings County (PEHC) is fully-equipped and staffed by a veterinarian and technician throughout the nights on weekdays and around-the-clock on weekends and holidays, basically whenever your own clinic is closed.
Although some simple emergency cases may just be treated and sent home, animals that need surgery, fluid treatment, frequent medication, serial blood testing or hospitalization for any reason, will have the benefit of continuous care throughout the nights and weekends. Until now, providing full-time monitoring of hospitalized cases and emergencies after-hours was not practical for the average small animal practice. Sick animals often had to be left unattended overnight and for hours at a time on the weekends.
Following several years of negotiations and planning, the Pet Hospital opening has been the topic of much discussion in the local veterinary community. It represents a fundamental change in how companion animal emergencies are managed – a change that has been steadily moving through communities across North America. And it’s a change that is not universally embraced.
Some area vet clinics in scarborough and particularly in Belleville, still plan on providing emergency services themselves, either through a shared “on-call” rotation or privately. If you use the services of a particular practice regularly, they can advise you of their policies and how to proceed in the event of an emergency.
The direct number for the Pet Hospital of PEHC is (613) 968-9956. The entrance is located behind Rossmore Animal Hospital in the Prince Edward Plaza. It is accessible from both Hwy. 62 and Rednersville Road.
So that’s the bare-bones scoop on our new after-hours clinic. You’re sure to hear more about it after the “official” open house takes place. I can’t wait to see it myself.
Click the blue cross you will find in the upper right hand corner of any of the pages on our website to take you to the information page for the PEHC. Should our clients call our own lines after-hours there is an option to instantly hook up to the PEHC phone lines, just wait for the prompt.
Dr. Fiona Gilchrist
Hillcrest Animal Hospital – May 2012
