Pulse - June 2021 - 8

PULSEPOINTS
April Survey on Status of Veterinary Practices
The decision to open is based upon: state, local,
To get an idea of how veterinary hospitals
in the area are moving toward
the new normal in the delivery of
veterinary care, while continuing to be
safe for their staff and clients, a brief
survey of member hospitals was conducted
in April. Here are the thoughts
of our 83 respondents almost evenly
split between Los Angeles and Orange
Counties with a few from perimeter
counties as well.
NOTE: A discussion of these results as well as
insights from Emily Beeler, DVM, MPH, Los
Angeles County Veterinary Public Health, and
Audrianne Adams Lee, president of HR Network,
took place at a Town Hall in April. You can find
the recording at URL. Between the results of the
survey, insights from experts, listening to your team
and a modicum of common sense, you can determine
when and how to safely open your clinic to
your clients.
89% of veterinarians and 61% of staff
have been fully vaccinated.
The vast majority (93%) of practices
are not handling vaccinated
and unvaccinated staff differently.
Those that are handling staff differently,
noted:
Vaccinated no quarantine after traveling
(flying); unvaccinated two-week
quarantine.
Unvaccinated can't eat in the
breakroom.
Keeping unvaccinated out of exam
rooms with clients.
35% of respondents are allowing clients
into the building.
37% of respondents are not allowing
clients into the building under any
circumstances.
28% have offer options including:
Allow in for euthanasias.
To demonstrate injections or home
treatments.
" Special circumstances. "
When it comes to opening for business, the
answers were varied:
9.6% one week.
10.8% one month
30.1% two to four months.
3.6% greater than four months.
45.8% unsure.
8
national, county, CDC, public health, OSHA
guidelines.
Trending of cases, tiers and case resurgence,
variants.
What other practices are doing.
Vaccination rate and staff vaccination rate.
Herd immunity.
When the corporation says so.
Completion of building safety upgrades.
63% of practices have discussed safely
opening with their staff.
37% have not.
Staff input has suggested:
Limit number of clients with access to
the inside.
NO change-curbside, drop off, etc.
Postpone as long as possible.
Don't want to open up the building at
all.
Physical plant upgrades.
No one in the lobby. Take pet directly
from car to exam room and back to
car.
A hybrid of the past and present.
Ready to open and get back to normal.
What are the new rules going to be?
So, what is it you are doing?
3.6% We are back to business as
usual before COVID (except for
masks, etc.).
14.5% We are allowing only a
limited number of clients into the
practice.
59.0% We are allowing only euthanasias
into the practice.
1.2% We allow clients in the clinic
if they're vaccinated.
0.0% We allow clients in the clinic
if they've had a negative test within
72 hours.
9.6% we don't allow clients in
under any circumstance.
12.0% Other, which includes:
We only allow clients inside to use the
bathroom, if they insist.
Allow clients in the lobby but only one
person at a time.
And finally some open thoughts:
I'm tired of thinking about this ......
Covid sucks!
Clients are now let into the reception
area to pay so we are no longer discussing
credit cards.
Information over the phone. Plexiglass
barriers are in place. Limited
number of people allowed.
Clients can come in to use the restroom.
Only euthanasias occur in
exam rooms with clients. I think
regular exams with clients, pets, staff,
doctor in an exam room will not happen
soon.
Can't wait to get back to normal! I feel
like clients will have more empathy if
they can actually see what is going on
with the client and patient influx.
I will likely keep curbside as an
option. Many clients like it and it will
keep those inside to a minimum.
Very interested in other people's plans
for opening. I would like some standards
set with our associations.
We need guidelines on how to let
clients into the building. Do we need
to disinfect? How? Number of people
per square foot of space, etc. Then
we can figure out how much time we
need for each appointment. Then we
can figure out if it makes sense financially
to let people inside.
Until 80% of the population is vaccinated,
I feel that the risk is too high
for our staff to be exposed to the
general population. Any vet allowing
clients into the facility who are unvaccinated
are placing their unvaccinated
employees at risk!
It is more time consuming to have
curbside services only but the Covidpositive
rate in our practice has been
very low. I would rather continue on
JUNE 2021
PULSE
Pulse - June 2021

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