Despite the decline of COVID-19 new case and death rates from winter highs to levels close to those experienced last summer, Brownsburg Animal Clinic will continue curbside service exclusively until further notice.
We will also continue following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control regarding wearing masks and keeping physical distance from colleagues and clients.
Like most of our clients, we strongly prefer the more efficient and satisfying face-to-face interactions of indoor appointments. Several of our team members and their pets have recently visited specialty clinics where curbside service was the only option. In sharing their experiences of curbside as clients, they’ve helped all of us understand better than ever our own clients’ frustrations with curbside service.
Other team members have shared recent experiences with providers of human healthcare and dentistry, citing continuing restrictions on family members allowed into exam and hospital rooms.
Within the veterinary industry, we are seeing many clinics and veterinary teaching hospitals continuing to offer curbside only, until further notice—as we have elected to do. Others have reopened their facilities to the public while still making curbside service available to clients who prefer it,. We tried that from last July 6 until November 10, when we reverted to curbside-only as infection and death rates soared.
As a healthcare professional and clinic owner, I am solely responsible for setting policies for our clinic. I consider the current risks of infection too great to reopen our building to the public right now and for the foreseeable future. That’s why curbside-only service will continue at Brownsburg Animal Clinic.
All year long, my first priority has been and remains the health and safety of our staff, our families and our clients. Infections within the clinic could not only make any number of us sick and jeopardize our own and our families’ health, but also shut us down for weeks. I want to keep that risk as low as possible so we can continue to be here for our clients and patients without interruption. I also want to minimize confusion about what our clients can expect when they come for an appointment by continuing the policy we’ve had in place for the past four months until infection and death rates stabilize at lower levels.
As COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available, I am encouraging all on our team who wish to be vaccinated to schedule their appointments promptly. We will track the dates their shots are administered and wait for full efficacy for all vaccinated staff members before we consider reopening the building. We will also continue to monitor the infection and death rates as well as vaccination rates for Hendricks and surrounding counties as we look to restore full access to our building as soon as we feel it’s reasonably safe to do so.
Meanwhile, we are allowing clients into the building for euthanasias. If you observe clients entering the building, we ask that you understand this is the most likely reason for their visit and offer them the same respect and compassion you would appreciate if you were saying goodbye to your pet for the last time.
We will notify our clients by email, website post and Facebook post when we feel it is safe to reopen our building to clients. We apologize for any inconvenience and frustration our continuing curbside-only policy may cause you as a client.
Curbside Protocols
As a reminder, here’s how curbside works:
- Call in advance to make an appointment for your pet’s visit.
- When you arrive for the appointment, call the front desk at (317) 852-3323 to let us know you’re in our parking lot.
- A technician will call you to discuss your pet’s history and the reason for the appointment.
- A technician will then come to your car and bring your pet into the clinic for examination and treatment.
- Cats must be in a secure carrier—not loose in your vehicle. We provide secure leads for dogs.
- Our staff will not reach into your vehicle for your pet. We’re asking you to place cat carriers on the ground by your vehicle for the staff member to pick up or stand by your vehicle with your dog on a leash until the staff member secures the slip lead and you can safely hand the dog off.
- Unless it’s a drop-off appointment or special arrangements have been made in advance and approved by the veterinarian, we expect clients to remain in their vehicles in our parking lot throughout the appointment.
- All communication concerning diagnosis, treatment options and check-out will take place on the phone. Because of the increased call volume, you may experience delays in having your call answered and long hold times. Please know we are doing our best to manage phone calls as quickly and efficiently as we can.
- At the conclusion of the appointment, after you’ve paid your bill, a staff member will return your pet, along with any prescribed medicines or foods, to your car.
- We ask that you maintain a distance of at least six feet from anyone you encounter during your visit to our clinic.
- We expect you to wear a snug-fitting mask covering your nose and mouth while interacting with our staff members and other clients who may be waiting in the parking lot.
Food Orders and Prescription Refills
If you need to visit the clinic to pick up food or medicine, we ask for more than the usual 24-hours’ advance notice. Call well ahead of time, charge the merchandise to your credit or debit card, and we will let you know when your order will be ready. Call the front desk when you arrive for pickup and we will bring it out to you.
You can also order supplies for delivery directly to your home from our online VetSource store.
Thank you!
We all join you in looking forward to the time when we can safely reopen the building to our clients—and we most certainly will—just as soon as we feel it is prudent to do so again.
Thank you for your continuing patience, cooperation and understanding.
Sincerely,
Timea H. Brady, DVM
Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic
P.S. My team and I understand waiting can be frustrating! I assure you, we are doing our very best to respond promptly to every call we receive, in order of urgency, and to operate as efficiently as we possibly can. Regardless of your wait time, we expect you to be civil to our team members, once they are able to help you.