Clients or visitors are not permitted to enter the hospital.
With daily rates of community infection increasing, we can no longer accept the risks of our entire team to work together. If one team member was to contract COVID-19, then all in-contact people (our entire team!) may be sent home to self-isolate for two weeks. By splitting our team in two, then we would still have half our team members available to continue providing our services. This will allow us to remain open.
We ask you to remain patient with us as we will have fewer team members available each day. This means things may get busy. We will be doing our best. Again, thank you so much for your patience and understanding thus far, we really appreciate it.
With smaller teams available to work each day, due to splitting the team in two, we are reducing our opening hours.
Our temporary Hospital Open Hours are:
Monday to Friday – 10am – 6pm
Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays – 10am – 2pm.
Surgery admissions will be occurring from 9.50am, weekdays.
NOTE: Please arrive 10 minutes prior to any appointment and call the hospital upon arrival to check-in from your car.
With reduced hours available in the evenings we understand that bringing your pet in out of typical business hours is more difficult. We have decided to waive weekend surcharges, both Saturday and Sunday, while we operate on the reduced hours detailed above. Public holiday surcharges remain unchanged.
As we are now running consultations without owners present (as detailed in our previous email) this presents some challenges for aggressive or very anxious pets. We are very passionate about a ‘fear-free’ approach and utilising anti-anxiety medications for those pets has become necessary, so we can safely and calmly complete their consultations and examinations. Medications will be dispensed in the days leading up to their visit, and instructions will be provided as to how and when to give it. Exception will obviously be made for emergencies or unwell patients, which are more time sensitive. Call us to discuss your pet's needs.for highly anxious (or aggressive) pets.
On the evening of March 27th, the Australian Veterinary Association received the following statement from the office of the Hon. David Littleproud MP, Minister for Agriculture:
“The Federal Government considers the role of veterinarians essential to the agricultural sector and therefore to our nation’s food security but also in protecting companion animals and our nation’s wildlife... The Federal Government will continue to work to maintain the essential role that veterinarians have in Australia during this crisis..."
An excellent summary has been provided from the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) that is essential reading for any clients worried about their pets during this time.
(28th March) UPDATE AVA Video: Belgium cat News Article: Brussels Times News Article
Here is the AVA-link to view their summary and short video
In summary:
Once again, we would like to thank you for your understanding, patience, and cooperation thus far with the changes we have implemented. This is a time of rapid change and we know this can be unsettling. We will continue to act as necessary to slow the spread of this virus within our community, and further updates will follow as required.
