After close to 20 years at the Tudor Glen Veterinary Hospital, owner Dr. Tammy Wilde knows her day can change in a flash. But even when schedules are stuffed, staff go above and beyond to make sure no one gets turned away at the clinic.
“Even if our day is fully booked, we try when possible to get that patient in, especially if it’s an emergency,” Wilde said. “That sometimes means long hours and working after hours, but it’s the animal that speaks to my heart.”
In this year's St. Albert Gazette Readers’ Choice poll, residents chose the Tudor Glen Veterinary Hospital as their 2020 pick for Favourite Veterinarian.
Knowing people took the time to nominate them for the award meant a lot to Wilde and her team, she said, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The fact that we won this award, even in the midst of COVID-19, means that we’re still on the right track and that our clinic is still striving for excellent customer service,” Wilde said.
Veterinarians are often advocates for the health of our furry friends, she said. Your pet may not be able to tell you in plain English if their tooth hurts or if they feel sick, but your vet can. And it takes time and a lot of team effort to do it well.
“I have amazing staff, from the front desk to our kennel assistant. We couldn’t do it without any of them.”
As an essential service, the veterinary clinic never really closed its doors at the beginning of the pandemic, but had to adapt quickly to implement a whole host of new safety measures. That included limiting how many people could be inside the clinic, extra sanitization and cleaning after every exam, and keeping six feet apart from clients while taking a look at their furry companions.
Often the strength of a team is tested when something unexpected happens. Over the summer, Wilde remembered when her team went above and beyond to take care of a dog in a life-threatening situation.
“A dog ended up eating a towel and it perforated her bowel,” she said. “I remember it was a day that I was off, so my staff texted me right away and we were in emergency surgery later that afternoon. We stayed late to help the dog recover until we could take her home, and I actually took the dog home to the owner that night.”
While COVID-19 presented new challenges, Wilde said she believes it’s also shown people how important their pets are to them.
Clients were calling to book procedures for their pets that they thought they didn’t have time to do before, she said. Families were going on more walks with their pets than they normally would, enjoying their time together. With all the uncertainty in the world, more people realized their pet was one constant they could count on.
“When COVID-19 hit, I feel that people realized that the pets were super important, that they became a huge part of their family,” she said.
“One of the most important things at the end of the day is to come home and snuggle with your pets and your family, and to have them there for you.”
