Hello Bear Creek Family!
2020/2021 has provided Bear Creek Veterinary Hospital with many challenges in scheduling as well as staffing. Every single patient and client is very special to us, therefore we felt it was necessary to write to each of you and keep you updated on various issues and solutions we are experiencing on a day to day basis. BCVH has prided itself in the relationships we have built over the last 15+ years and we will continue to work to earn the trust you have placed in us. That means face to face conversations and decision making.
During a world pandemic, we were one of the few clinics who did not have to shut their doors for any period of time. We had to adhere to the regulations set forth by the state of North Carolina and provide a safe working environment for our staff so that we could be here for you and your pet(s). We were one of the first clinics to allow clients back into the building because we know how important it is to be with your pet(s) during their visit. I can’t imagine having to say Goodbye to a pet and have them put to sleep only to be forced to not be by their side. As soon as state regulations allowed, we lifted them here as well. Most clinics still remain under COVID restrictions and limitations even now.
Scheduling has remained challenging each and every day whether we had 4 doctors, or now just 3. We value your time as well and therefore adhere to a structured schedule instead of a walk-in based schedule. This allows us to provide time for you and your pet(s) and provide quality service and care at each visit. On top of the normal schedule, we see drop-off appointments and emergency work ins on a daily basis for those individuals that truly need to be seen when no appointment times are available. Yes, the emergency work-ins do come with a fee ($50); but without that fee, every non-emergency “emergency” wants to be worked-in and pretty soon, we are just a walk-in clinic. There are only a certain number of work-in’s per day that can be seen as our doctors do need to be able to catch up, eat lunch, and just clear their heads for a brief moment before diving back into the chaos.
Due to the high demand, we are unfortunately booked 1 to 2 weeks out for well visits and 2 months for surgeries. Be assured that we are seeing the maximum number of patients we possibly can while still maintaining the quality of care you have become accustomed to. The limiting factor is the number of veterinarians on staff to see patients. We are in need of 3 additional providers but with the shortage of veterinarians in the industry nationwide, it is difficult to find new candidates. Shoving more appointments into shorter and shorter time slots to increase the number of patients seen will only water down the care you receive and that is not our mission. We will NOT do this! We will not take away from the reputation of quality and compassionate care we have provided to this community over the years. We are however, working diligently to maximize the efficiency of our doctors with support staff and well-trained nurses that can perform procedures that our veterinarians are not mandated to perform so that they can focus on the necessary tasks only. Therefore, they can see the extra drop-offs and work-ins.
We have added a call center upstairs to handle the high incoming call load and focus more on customer service to clients calling in and in our lobby. This way our front desk staff can concentrate on the clients in front of them with a less chaotic atmosphere in the lobby and more attention to detail in both departments. This means fewer mistakes and happier clients. The call center is focused on closely monitoring the schedule for cancellations and reschedules so that if you have called and want to be seen, they can monitor those spots that come available and get you in if possible. So, keep in mind that when you call our office and we have to sadly say that we have no open appointments, it is due to our already booked schedule, but we will do our best to alert you of openings and options as they arise. It is not that we do not care about you or your pet(s). It is simply that we can not physically see more patients than we already are and still provide quality care. At any time, if you feel your pet(s) needs immediate attention and we are unable to see your pet at the time you want them seen, we recommend that you take them to one of the 24-hr Emergency facilities: Carolina Veterinary Specialists in Matthews (704-819-3939) or Charlotte Animal Referral & Emergency in Charlotte (704-457-2300). We are simply unable to see every single sick patient or emergency that arises throughout the day. We do our very best where we can, but have to set limitations.
We have some pretty amazing clients and we value our old and new relationships alike. We hold high the relationship we have with you and your pet(s). Thank you for recognizing that we want what is best for you and your pet(s), while also taking care of our team. That way, they can be there for you for the long run, not just today.
I always welcome your feedback and want to hear about your concerns, but please make sure you are providing constructive criticism and being respectful. My entire staff works hard each and every day they step foot inside this building. Our current staffing and scheduling issues have nothing to do with the amount of dedication my team displays on a daily basis to you and your furr-babies. I welcome any opportunity to speak or meet you while you are here for an appointment. I look forward to building relationships within the Bear Creek Family.
Sincerely,
Jill Russell
Bear Creek Veterinary Hospital Administrator
ADD ONS FROM DR. JORDAN:
Those of you that know me well, know that I am one of those individuals that tells you like it is and does not beat around the bush. Those that do not know me, will understand that by the end of this letter.
Since the very day I opened Bear Creek, I did so with no set end direction in mind. I knew the basic principles on which I wanted to build the practice, but I had no end game other than to follow where the demand led me. I would grow as the need grew. I went from a solo, large animal practitioner with a truck out of my basement to a 6-doctor mixed animal practice that saw after hours emergencies with two trucks and large facility and now to 3 doctor practice that only does small animal and no after-hours emergency. That downtrend and annexation of large animal and emergency medication was not due to lack of demand, however. It was solely due to a lack of acceptable veterinary candidates to fill the spots. If my vision and plan for practice had come to fruition, we would be a 24hr hospital with a separate night shift and fully staffed clinic that saw clients night and day with no patient left unattended and no one turned away with ample appointment times available and no need for “work-ins” at all. The small animal clientele has only grown, and I need to hire three additional veterinarians to meet the current demand of the day, let alone a separate night shift.
I have been actively searching and recruiting potential veterinarians from across the country with no success. The burden of the demand of a 6-doctor practice is being carried by 3 doctors. This has put an exponential amount of stress on the three of us attempting to care for the pets and clients in our care. For a time, we all attempted to buckle down and bear it until reinforcements could arrive, but they didn’t come. Either we had to continue to grin and bear it until we fell apart or we had to make changes to handle what we could as efficiently as possible and limit the wear and tear on ourselves to be able to function if reinforcements never arrive. Boundaries had to be drawn and we had to start prioritizing ourselves and our own mental health. We recognized that if we did not do so, none of us would be here to bear any load at all. I feel the responsibility for my colleagues’ mental health status as well as my own. My family deserves my time and my mental health to be there for them more than anyone. I came to the realization that most clients are not concerned with our mental health. They are only concerned with what they want and when they want it. It matters not to them the circumstances under which we are working. The nonstop case after case, request after request, complaint after complaint does not fall on deaf ears, but it is not a situation easily rectified.
Bottom line is this. The policies of the clinic have been set by me for the benefit of the whole and the long-distance stamina of the staff and doctors. For the benefit of my clients and anyone that cares to read this letter, I am going to bullet a few items of great importance and explain the situation.
- The rules of the clinic apply to everyone equally. I do not play favorites. No one client or patient is more important than anyone else. Do not think that complaining about having to pay an emergency fee or having to wait for an appointment because you have spent X amount of $ or being with us for X number of years is going to suddenly and miraculously allow us to find an open spot for you that does not require an extra fee or a wait.
- Lack of planning on your part, does not constitute an emergency on ours. Sick patients take priority. Prescription refills are performed as we have time between sick patients. Just because you wait until the last minute, show up and demand a refill on the spot, does not mean that we will drop what we are doing and fill your medication for you. We ask you give us 24-48hrs to process refill requests.
- If you have a complaint regarding the above-mentioned points, those complaints should be directed to the Hospital Administrator, not to me. Trust me in that she will handle the situation with much more diplomacy and customer service than I will. I am over stressed, over worked, and underappreciated. My solution to the problem will not likely result in an outcome you will find more desirable.
- There is no cause for being rude or abusive. A legitimate complaint, concern or criticism is welcome and will be investigated and followed up on. We acknowledge that we are made up of human components that fall short and will make mistakes. Mistakes should be identified and rectified whenever possible. However, loud, aggressive, and unreasonable behavior will not be tolerated and will find you on the receiving end of a letter of termination of services. Meaning we will no longer be able to provide you with services, ever.
I apologize only for not being able to find more veterinarians that would solve all our problems and make all our lives better. Until that day comes, we will make do with the resources available to us. I do not and will not apologize for prioritizing the mental health and wellbeing of my staff, doctors, and myself. I do hope most of you will understand and take this letter as what it truly is…the unadulterated truth straight from the heart.
We are relatively new to your practice. We have nothing but positive comments for every member of your team. We have always tried to adhere to the restrictions of every practice. Most of what you are asking of us is basic courtesy and common sense. Thank you for all you are doing. Every one of you is doing his/her best, so what more could anyone ask! To this point, we have only met the techs, Dr. Yowell, and the sweet gals at the front desk. Kudos to every one of you!
Linda and Gary Bockover
Some of you out there know me. Others don’t. I’m Tommy, Dr. Amy’s husband.
I’ve been blessed to be by her side since 2010 and see her practice grow. I’ve also seen the dedication she (and all the doctors) put into their clients. I remember when she upgraded from one truck with a mobile vet body on it and instead put the first lab station in Bear Creek’s building. I remember the tough decisions to shut down the mare and foal stalls and turn them into a treatment area for small animals when she hired her first small animal veterinarian. I remember three years in a row when she had to leave Thanksgiving plans mid-morning and sacrifice that day to large animal calls, year after year. Christmases, Thanksgivings, Mother’s Days… it didn’t matter. She did what needed to be done to serve her community because she feels it’s her duty. I’ve always been amazed and proud of her dedication to “doing good medicine” as she calls it.
She didn’t strike out on her own with just a bank loan and a truck because she wanted to own a vet practice of her own. In fact, she’s never really wanted to be a business owner, but it’s just the way her mind works. If she can’t go what she considered “good medicine” for someone else and the only way to do it was to do it on her own, then I guess that’s what she needs to do… and she did. She took on the burden of starting her own practice because that’s the only way she could be allowed to be the kind of vet that she thinks the job requires. Some of you knew her back then and remember… never stopping, never slowing down, always doing whatever it takes to serve her community.
That’s never changed, but she’s also not 30 years old anymore. She’s been burning the candle hard at both ends her entire professional life with the only goal being to get the practice built up enough that it can handle all the needs thrown at it and realizing that to do that she can’t burn her doctors (or herself) out. If the doctors burn out, then there’s no one to see the patients.
Bear Creek has been trying to hire more veterinarians for the past three years. The remodel in 2018 made the physical building ready… it can handle six full time veterinarians. In fact, she designed it to handle six veterinarians AND to be able to be a 24-hour hospital that could serve the community all hours day or night.
The issue is hiring. After working amongst ourselves to recruit and hire for over two years with very little response, we tried something new. After all, if what you’re doing isn’t working, its madness to just keep doing the same thing and expecting and a different outcome. So she hired recruiting companies… headhunters. Yup, believe it or not, there are companies that specialize in veterinary headhunting.
It’s been another year working with recruiters and rather than gaining another veterinarian, we lost one. It wasn’t anything bad that caused it. Lots of veterinarians move around in the beginnings of their career to be exposed to new situations, new practices, and new places where they can learn different skills. It’s part of the life for most of them. But the fact is, the six doctor practice that was running hard on four, is now working on three.
I had a call with two of the recruiting firms they’ve been working with that really put it into perspective for me. yes, TWO of them. She’s employed two headhunting agencies in an attempt to find another veterinarian (or three hopefully) to help serve the clients that need it.
I mean after all, it’s been three years and we can’t find a SINGLE veterinarian? Is it us? Is there some blacklist somewhere that says “Dear, god don’t work there” that I need to know about?
The recruiter laughed at me (which didn’t help my fears) but then he put it in to a clearer perspective for me. No, there’s nothing wrong with Bear Creek from a recruiting perspective. Its a great practice. It’s the biggest and most utilized vet practice within probably 100 miles of it’s location. Hell, they do more in a day than most other practices combined. The clinic isn’t the problem. The job market is.
Huh? (That just didn’t even make sense to me)
Veterinary medicine has almost twice as much turnover as most other industries when it comes to support staff. The number is close to 30%. If you meet three people in a vet clinic during your visit anywhere in America, there’s a very good chance one of them wont’ be there next year. Things like compassion fatigue (the mental and emotional toll of dealing with hurt and loss on a daily basis), burnout, and practice culture are all factors.
Add to this that veterinarians have the highest suicide rate of all fields… literally all of them. The emotional toll being a veterinarian takes on people is staggering, and it’s much the same for the staff. I see this first hand because I’m married to one and I interact with the staff of Bear Creek all the time. Some of you out there know how hard it is to lose a fur-baby. We recently lost one of our own six months ago and it broke both our hearts! I very vividly remember lying there in the field with Beast when his heart stopped beating. It ripped me apart and I sat there in the grass and cried for… well, I don’t know how long, but it felt like a long time.
Imagine being the person that’s there day in and day out sitting with those families, crying with them, or being the veterinarian in surgery working desperately to try to save someone’s loved one only to find that nothing can be done. The amount of death and emotion that veterinarians (and their staff) are exposed to is exponentially higher than in human medicine. It literally wears on their soul in a way most of us thankfully can’t imagine.
The pandemic and the fact that fewer people are choosing to become veterinarians has had the opposite effect amongst the veterinarians themselves.
The veterinary turnover among doctors however, is at an all time low. People aren’t moving from practice to practice. Older veterinarians are retiring and the pandemic basically put a freeze on anyone moving from the job they already have. The turnover amongst licensed vets is less than 2% right now. That’s impossibly and strikingly low. Vets either leave the field entirely, retire, or stay where they are.
As an IT provider, I work with five different veterinary practices within about 150 miles of Stanly County. Every single one of them is experiencing that same pain. Doctors might leave or retire, but there’s no pool of new ones to bring in. I’ve been on calls with practice owners desperate for a solution to the hiring problem. Even professional recruiters are having the same problem. There’s no one willing to move (for ANY amount of money) and the few new grads with zero specialized skills are being offered ludicrous sums of money to take a job, not to mention sign-on bonuses that seem more appropriate for CEO’s of companies.
In the meantime, Dr. Amy, Pike, and Yowell soldier on. They do what needs to be done and they fight the burnout as hard as they can. For the record, that equates to 1 day off a week.
Dr. Amy and Jill aren’t going to stop, and they aren’t going to give up. Amy made a really telling reference in her comments above. It’s very much like being a soldier on the battlefield to her. They’re just trying to hold the line until reinforcements can arrive, but when they look back over their shoulders there are no reinforcements on the horizon.
They will come. It might be next month and three veterinarians could land in our lap. Or it might be another year of trying to serve a community that requires six veterinarians and finding a way to buckle down and do it with only three, each of them trying their hardest to do the job while watching out desperately for the mental health of their colleagues because losing another soldier would be disastrous.
There is no perfect balance in their world. They have to work as much as they can to serve as many people as possible, while dealing with the ones that just want to yell and scream at them for things they have no control of (like the failure to make your appointment or coming in and demanding prescription refills immediately when all three doctors are actively seeing patients, and you should have put that request in two days ago), and during all that they have to preserve their sanity and their mental wellbeing so they can stay in the fight until help arrives.
I 100% support her revised approach for serving the community. The days of being able to take time to sit and talk to each person are kind of gone for the time being. Dr. Amy isn’t the one to take a complaint to. Jill is. If you’ve got an issue, demanding to speak to the owner isn’t going to get you anywhere because the owner is probably busy trying to save some pet’s life and your venting isn’t really that high on their radar right now because if they DID have to deal with that, it might be the one thing straw that breaks the camels back. (and our camels are very overworked already – not to mix my metaphors)
Speaking of mixing metaphors – it’s very much a battlefield mentality right now. Part of Jill’s job is to run the hospital. Another part of her job is to protect her soldiers (her vets, their techs, and their staff. She’s not the customer service rep. She’s the freakin’ Brigadier General of the entire corps!). She’s not going to let someone jeopardize her veterinarians right now. She’s going to talk to the customer and handle it however she sees fit from her role as the administrator.
Some people won’t be appeased. Some people will leave and go elsewhere. Don’t think that doesn’t matter. It matters greatly to my wife and to her fellow doctors and staff, but to be honest, until they can hire another veterinarian or two, it doesn’t matter like it used to because the topmost priority they have right now is seeing patients and trying to catch up on the backlog and working to find the time for the emergency they KNOW is going to come in the door sometime that day. Someone is going to be hit by a car. Someone is going to be mauled by another dog. Some cat is going to go in to renal failure. Every single day something like that is going to happen so they work as hard as they can to get ahead for even 10 minutes to be able to make room for that emergency when it inevitably shows up. So, no ma’am, Fifi simply can’t get her nails trimmed this week… You’ll have to take the next available slot in August.
When you look down at your schedule, imagine seeing every single 30 minute appointment slot for the NEXT TWO MONTHS already filled up. You want to take an hour off work in July? When? There’s not an opening for a bathroom break until sometime around September. And if you stop to take 15 minutes to let someone yell at you for something because they “want to speak to the owner” then you’re going to shift every appointment further down the line or you’re going to be staying later than you already are on your 11.5 hour work day.
Things will get better. They will get another veterinarian. Hopefully they’ll get two or three. Hopefully one day they’ll actually have the time to sit at the picnic table after work one day and have a cold drink and watch the sun go down behind the practice instead of shoveling fast-food in their mouth in the five minutes they take for lunches right now.
It will happen. I know my wife and the one thing I’ve never ever ever seen her do is fail! She’s not wired for it. It’s not even a consideration because it’s just not something she will allow. Her fellow doctors, Dr. Pike and Dr. Yowell are some of the most formidable women you’ll ever meet. They’re all three amazing, wonderful, and kind people, but they’re also all three made of steel.
Few of us can imagine what they’ve been through for the last year and a half – taking on all their own customers as well as hundreds of customers from the surrounding area that couldn’t see their own regular veterinarians. I won’t knock on any other veterinarian because I don’t know their situations, but I will say that Bear Creek has been inundated with people that had nowhere to go because their vet was either closed, or wouldn’t see them over this last year. Growth is a great thing… when you’re ready for it, but an exponential demand for your services seemingly overnight is a hammer blow when you’re already buried up to your eyeballs in work and there isn’t any more help coming yet the calls keep piling up day after day.
Those of you that read this to the end… my apologies for the length, but thank you for taking the time.
It will get better!
PS: If you’re a veterinarian… I know someone that’s hiring.
Ignore all that blather above. It’s always rainbows and sunshine. They pay 1 million a year, you get 180 days off a year, a free vacation to the Bahamas, free Chick-Fil-A for life, and if you start today they’ll pay for your children’s college! Put in your application now! I will personally go load and move all your belongings for you. No need to pack! You can start tomorrow, right?
WOW!! LOVE the straightforward TRUTH…unadulterated!! Way to go!! (also…don’t know what I would do if Dr. Yowell left…She is the BEST cat vet ever!!) 😀
I left other veterinary services because they COULDN’T speak clearly and rather just talked in circles. I don’t know Dr Amy as well as you do, Tommy, but I know people. She’s as genuine as they come, and besides being a friggin brilliant provider….she CARES. We’ve shared tears together over lost pets. If keeping her in the game means I have to do a better job of planning ahead, we’ll then I’m all about it.
Oh, and to add to the current veterinary crisis, don’t forget that last year people got “pandemic pets” to occupy their time. Those pets require care. So not only are clinics understaffed, but the demand has dramatically increased for 2021.
Enough rambling- I love y’all- thanks for all you do.
Very well said and informative. Thank you all for caring for the animals. I have two questions.
1) Are you accepting new clients with your large clientele at this time?
2) Do you work with Great Danes? I’m asking as others will not take Great Danes.
Thank you for your time.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL
We love Dr. Amy Poole Jordan and the other vets as well. Bear Creek has done a wonderful job for us and our animals. I would never expect them to do more than they can do. We do care about the mental health of all of our healthcare providers. We know firsthand what it is to work in that field. Our prayers are for them to have peace and rest at the end of each day.
That was very good and informative. AND…I am not saying that because I am Amy’s mother-in-law. Some people think I get special treatment because of that but I don’t. I expect to get treated just like everybody else. . When I lost my Haley in 2019, we waited until you could get there to be with me. She cried right along with you and me. She knew how special Haley was to me. She is an extraordinary woman and I know I don’t tell her that often enough!!
I love this!!! An i wish i could work for such an amazing wonderful an understanding owner/boss/co worker. An so on. To many times have i been one of those staff that has been worked to the break! An bushed to the extreme. Due to the head of the clinic only saw $$$ I applaud you an honor your respect for your staff your self an your family!! Thats is what its all about!! Thank you for being a person of heart!! An i pray god blesses yall with the staff you need! An more excited that you actually fire clients! That is awesome!!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Veterinarians all over are overworked, understaffed, underpaid and underappreciated. My vet just added new staff, but it didn’t decrease the wait time. Every time I go in, I make sure to let them know how much I appreciate them! Please let Dr. Amy know that she is heard, understood and both she and her staff are appreciated! If I lived closer and they were taking new clients, I’d be burning phonelines down to connect!
New to the practice this year and love it there! Keep doing you, it works for my family. God bless you and the others at the clinic for what you do and thank you, we appreciate it.
Y’all are the best, you were there for me and my precious Fritz till the end. Dr. Yowell is the best, my Fritz was a special needs dog. 16 and. Half years of faithful, service. I,would never had made it without Dr. Ann.
I pray that you,will,find new vets for your practice.,
Mostly I pray for people to be KIND. Love and Angels and blessings
We are new to your place and I must say I am very impressed by what we have experienced so far! Very proud of the care they gave our fur babies:) Thank you so much for everything!