05/25/2021
Starting June 1st, we will make it an option-- not a requirement- for clients to come back into the hospital. We will continue to offer curbside services to owners who:
Are not comfortable coming inside the hospital
Have had a Covid exposure or have been Covid positive in the past 2 weeks regardless of vaccine status
Are unwilling or unable to wear masks
Have a party of more than 2-3 people to keep the room traffic down to a minimum
Other options?
The back run at Mitchell’s is fenced and is a great area for multiple person appointments or for owners who are unable to mask-- this is appropriate for dogs only. If you would like this option, please let us know when scheduling or checking in. You may need to wait until the space is available if the previous appointment is using it.
Mobile Appointments: We will continue to see things in the Laboit if possible, we can come into the house for animals that cannot be crated or do better in their own environment. . For now, we ask that you mask in the van. In your own home, that is at your discretion. If we do the exam outside, we will not ask you to wear a mask.
Why are you requiring masks if there is no longer a mask mandate?
As a private business, we can elect to require masks. It is entirely possible that we will not require masks at some point in the near future, but we want to make sure the numbers are continuing to trend down. Throughout the past 12 months, we have had multiple staff out due to Covid exposure or illness. It is extremely disruptive to our schedule and ability to fully book appointments. Many appointments have been rebooked due to schedule changes. We will continue to do everything possible to keep staff healthy. We have elected to maintain using masks inside until a later date. We ask that you respect this and if you have any questions, they are to be directed to Dr. Curry ONLY, who-- as the owner-- has made this decision and takes full responsibility for it. If staff are being harassed, we are unable to perform our veterinary work and this is not an option. If you cannot or will not cover your mouth and nose with your mask, we ask that you stay curbside or have your appointment outside. Regardless of vaccine status, we are maintaining masks to avoid questions regarding your--or our-- personal medical history.
Appointment flow:
When you get to Mitchell’s you:
Call 642-8387 and let us know of your arrival, your phone number and what car you are driving. Please tell us the make and model, not “the only car here’- as that changes frequently. At that time, you let us know if you want to come in for your appointment, stay in your car or have your appointment in the backyard. If you do not have a cell phone, please knock on the door.
If you elect to come inside, you will be asked if you have symptoms consistent with COVID. We are not asking your vaccine status and we ask you to please respect our policy to wear a mask regardless of your vaccine status.
We will either ask you to come to the door to be escorted into an exam room or ask you to wait in your car or outside until we call you in. We have set up seating outside in front of our office. We want to avoid large groups of people in the waiting room or people spending excessive time at the front desk. We will continue to have medication and food pick up outside and technician appointments will also remain curbside to minimize traffic in our lobby.
You will be checked out in the exam room or if there is an extended wait for medication or pending labwork, we may ask you to wait in the car for check out to allow us to prep the room for the next appointment.
We may elect to bring your pet into the treatment area for blood draws, at our discretion-- this was the policy prior to curbside. This is for the safety of your pet and our staff.
We hope/expect life to go back to normal over the next 6 months. We ask for your patience and understanding as we re-learn having clients in the hospital. The entire client and patient flow changed with curbside service. If you remember back 12 months ago-- it was tough to learn curbside, and occasionally it was a bit of a hot mess- but over time we made it work! Now we are all used to it and it’s another transition for staff and clients. We understand that the pandemic has been stressful on everyone- financially, emotionally and physically. However, the level of verbal abuse to our staff- screaming, cursing and general harassment- has skyrocketed and it will not be tolerated in any form. We ask that you treat our staff as you would expect someone to treat you, and give us the same patience and tolerance that you would want in the event of major changes at work.
