COVID-19 Update: 5/12 Practicing Safely
May 12, 2020
Our teams at Ethos Veterinary Health hospitals care deeply about the health and safety of our clients, patients and community. As an essential business, we are committed to continuing to provide medical care to sick patients and 24/7 emergency and specialty care to our clients, while keeping our medical teams and your family safe.
As we navigate the changing best-practice guidelines around the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to maintain open communications about our practices and the experience you can expect to receive if your pet requires care at one of our hospitals. The information below provides details on our approach and the temporary changes we have in place for the mutual safety and well-being of our clients and hospital teams.
Thank you for allowing us to be your pet’s healthcare provider. We hope this information provides you with useful information for your visit, and we encourage you to call us with any additional questions.
If we all remain supportive of each other, we will become stronger and get through this together.
Safety Precautions
Client Concierge Service
Our hospitals will remain client-free to maintain social distancing and safety with a few exceptions, including end of life visits and extenuating circumstances. We kindly ask clients to wait in their cars with their pets for all non-life-threatening emergencies.
Our staff will come to you.
Personal Protection
Our staff are currently wearing face masks while in the hospital. You may also notice staff members wearing additional Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as gowns or face shields for additional protection. We are conserving PPE for our human counterparts, while balancing our team’s health and safety needs.
Disinfecting
We continue to clean and disinfect the hospital routinely while also increasing personal hygiene practices (i.e. hand washing). We have also transitioned to electronic paperwork where possible, to minimize contact with pens, clipboards, and other vectors for disease transmission.
Pods
Maintaining social distancing can be difficult when providing care to critical patients. As a result, our teams have been sub-divided into “pods,” or small working groups, per shift to minimize exposure. This ensures our larger team stays safe, and will be here for you, even if a limited exposure does occur.
Visitation
As mentioned above, we are not currently allowing clients to visit in our hospitals except for extenuating circumstances. If you do enter the ICU, we will provide you with a mask to wear while interacting with our team members face to face. We encourage clients to visit with their pet virtually via FaceTime, or ask a team member to email pictures.
What to Expect: Emergency and Specialty Patients
Check-in
- Upon arrival, please call the hospital.
- A team member will check you in upon arrival.
- Next, you will be transferred to a technician who will obtain a patient history over the phone.
- If you are here for an emergency visit, you will be given an approximate wait time (more on this below).
- If your pet needs a gurney, please let us know.
Emergency Patients and Wait Times
- We are currently experiencing high volumes and extended wait times during peak days/times. This often includes evenings and weekends.
- Emergencies can rapidly evolve, as with human hospitals, we triage our patients based on their critical needs. This can impact your wait time. Emergencies are not treated on a first come, first served basis.
- Most of our hospitals provide specialty appointments in addition to emergencies. As a result you may see other pets coming and going for routine appointments.
- It can be hard to imagine what is happening inside the hospital, but please know we are moving as fast as we safely can. We encourage clients to call hourly to check in for an updated wait time, or sooner if you have new or changing concerns for your pet.
- If you need to step away from the hospital during your visit, please speak to a team member by phone, before leaving.
The Visit
- A member of our team will meet you outside. Please keep your pet’s belongings (leashes, toys, blankets) with you. Personal belongings cannot be brought into the hospital.
Dogs: We ask clients to get out of their car and meet us on the sidewalk. We will use our own leash (or gurney), to bring your pet inside.
Cats: Please hand the carrier to a team member. - Following the examination, a doctor will call you to discuss their recommendations.
- We will present you with a treatment plan and associated costs at that time.
- After diagnostics and/or treatments have been performed, we will call to discuss the results.
- At discharge we will email electronic discharge instructions. A technician will review the discharge instructions over the phone and answer your related questions.
- All payments will be taken over the phone, except for cash payments.
Medication Refills
- We are offering curbside pick up for all medication refills.
- Please call the hospital upon arrival, they will collect payment over the phone and bring the medications to you.
- Please allow 48-72 hours for all refills.