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Valley Central Emergency Veterinary Hospital

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Reviews Valley Central Emergency Veterinary Hospital

Valley Central Emergency Veterinary Hospital Reviews (3)

I would not recommend this Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center based on the medical care my dog received which I feel caused her early deathBelow is a summary of my dog's care and what occurred over the last six months of her life
Negligence and Inability to Provide Competent Care: Over the six month period, despite my concerns and my dog’s waning health, the Vet did not take the time to research other causes of my dog’s symptomsaHe continually prescribed antibiotics and steroids, placing sole reliance on endoscopy, cystoscopy, and surgery (vulvaplasty)bDespite my concerns and my dog’s waning health, he cancelled an appointment in November because he did not feel it was necessary to see my dogThis was even with providing him blood tests showing an increasing overall white blood count, neutrophils, monocytes, and lowering protein levels; lack of eating; and infection of the third eyeUnethical administration of antibiotics and steroids
aThe Vet prescribed various broad spectrum antibiotics for my dog during from June thru December causing her to develop two resistant forms of bacteria – staphylococcus 4+ and Escherichia coli 3+Tests were only performed the last week in December on the discharge from her nose (which was determined to be bile coming up from her stomach and the reason for the sores around her mouth and nose)bThe Vet prescribed prednisone and flagyl prior to examining my dog and performing an ultrasound to see if she had problems in her stomach and small intestinesAccording to literature, prednisone should not be started if cause of the infection is unknown or if there are ulcersFurthermore, The Vet placed my dog on types of immune suppressants and continued with the Zenequin even though her neutrophils were over 40,noting a severe infection and that the Zenequin was not effectiveViolation of Veterinarian – Client Patient Relationship (VCPR): During the six month period of my dog’s waning health, The Vet continually violated my trust, which includes
aLack of accessibility – not returning phone calls or being available to meet during business hoursbIt should be noted that I spoke directly with The Vet on June and on December All other times, I left messages and received calls back from veterinarian techniciansOver the six month period, I contacted The Vet’s office regarding my dog’s health times(Note: Cellphone logs showing calls can be sent upon request.)
cLack of communication/ explanation regarding prescribed treatment and medicines
dDespite my authorization and explicit request, not providing other veterinarians with my dog’s file or test results
eDespite my dog’s decreasing health and his inability to provide effective treatment, not referring my dog to another veterinarian
fImproper diagnosis of lymphoma despite test results not showing such
gFailure to provide results of culture from my dog’s noseDespite obtaining the bile culture results on December – the day before my dog was diagnosed with lymphoma – The Vet did not inform me of these resultsInstead, I found out by obtaining my dog’s recordsDishonest Diagnosis: The most egregious offense was the fact that The Vet did not provide an honest diagnosis of my dog’s condition prior to her discharge from the hospitalHe diagnosed her with severe lymphoma and recommended that I take her home to die; however, based on the records obtained, my dog most likely died of a severe infection, including staphylococcus 4+ (MRSA) and Escherichia coli 3+, due to having some form of IBD and/or a bacterial infection (again, these results were obtained by his office on December 28, but I was not informed until I obtained copies of my dog’s medical records on and after January 15)It is also important to note that both Escherichia coli and staphylococcus (MRSA) can be passed from animals to humansWith my dog’s prolonged case and resistant strain, The Vet inability to provide adequate care and perform the necessary testing to determine a bacterial infection, is a public health concernMy family and I, my neighbor, and the people and pets at the Valley Central and other veterinarian offices were all at risk for infection, which could have been prevented had The Vet administrated competent and concise veterinarian care

July 25, 2014[redacted],I was away on vacation from July 3, 2014 until July 21, 2014 thus the delay in my response.Attached please find the email correspondence between [redacted] and myself from July 3, 20134, along with supporting documentation including the client consent and...

initial estimate dated June 13, 2014, both approved by signature; nursing notes with entry made by the treating nurse at 5:45 p.m. June 14, 2014 stating that [redacted] was updated and approved an additional estimated $763–$944 in care; an updated estimate dated June 14, 2014 approved by signature.If you read through the documentation provided I believe that you will see that it is clear that not only was [redacted] made well aware of the costs associated with her pet’s care, but that she approved the amounts, and that I did fully address the issue with her upon receiving her complaint.Please contact me directly if you have any questions.Sincerely,Bart U[redacted], MBA Hospital Administrator – Emergency Services

Review: This veterinary practice shows you an estimate of the cost to treat your pet. They provide a low estimate and a high estimate. They make you pay the low estimate in full before providing treatment. They also make you sign a credit card authorization.All of this is okay - maybe very aggressive, but their right to do so or you can go somewhere else.The complaint is that my dog was in their ER for 3 nights and with their internal medicine practice for 1 night. The estimate they gave me for the ER was a low of $1,330.00 to a high of just under $2,000.When I went to check out, they did not have the final bill prepared and said they would get it together and call me with the total, the person I was dealing with said, 'don't quote me on this, but it looks like we will owe you money back' I knew that wouldn't be the case and didn't think too much more about it. They did not call - and a couple of days later, I received an itemized bill for the ER portion and a copy of a credit card receipt where they had charged my credit card an additional $1,242.90 in addition to the $1,330.00 I had already paid. The next day I received an invoice that showed they had charged an additional $2,000.00 deposit to my credit card. I called them thinking it was in error and they told me that was for the one day of care in internal medicine with no itemized bill. The over $4,500.00 that I paid them was for 4 days of hospitalization without surgery or any other unusual or normally expensive procedures and it was $1,000 higher than the high end estimates they provided. I don't know if there is a governing board over reasonable fees or not. I do know that it is unethical to simply put higher than agreed to charges through on my credit card without my consent.Desired Settlement: I believe that I should be refunded the $501.90 that is beyond the ER highest estimate.The internal medicine doctor did discount her bill by $500 to bring it to the top of the highest range, but no longer above.The ER side refuses to do this, saying that on the next day when I came in to visit my dog, they explained that the estimate would be higher. What I was told on that day was that the most that I would owe additionally would be between $763 to $944.

Business

Response:

July 25, 2014[redacted],I was away on vacation from July 3, 2014 until July 21, 2014 thus the delay in my response.Attached please find the email correspondence between [redacted] and myself from July 3, 20134, along with supporting documentation including the client consent and initial estimate dated June 13, 2014, both approved by signature; nursing notes with entry made by the treating nurse at 5:45 p.m. June 14, 2014 stating that [redacted] was updated and approved an additional estimated $763–$944 in care; an updated estimate dated June 14, 2014 approved by signature.If you read through the documentation provided I believe that you will see that it is clear that not only was [redacted] made well aware of the costs associated with her pet’s care, but that she approved the amounts, and that I did fully address the issue with her upon receiving her complaint.Please contact me directly if you have any questions.Sincerely,Bart U[redacted], MBA Hospital Administrator – Emergency Services

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Description: Animal Hospitals

Address: 210 Fullerton Avenue, Whitehall, Pennsylvania, United States, 18052

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