Keystone Veterinary Emergency and Referral

January 8, 2016Dear Sir/Madam,Please allow this correspondence to server as follow up to the complaint filed on 11/7/by [redacted] , ID [redacted] [redacted] was contacted in regards to the cremation status of his beloved petWe are pleased report that his pets remains were located, cremated as requested, and returned to [redacted] on or about November 10, 2015.Jennifer DOffice Manager

August 31, 2016Dear *** ***,Please allow this letter to serve as our response to the above-reference complaintI would like to provide you of an overview of the situation and will conclude with a brief explanation on the differences between regular veterinary care and emergency veterinary
care.At the initial visit on 7/16/2016, our client was presented with and approved a limited estimate for Services and diagnostics for her pet TuckerShe declined to have radiographs during her visit, and picked up her pet after only being in our facility for hours as opposed to the hours that were suggested and agreed to in order to clinically monitor her pet and provide adequate careShe was asked to follow up with her regular vet if his condition did mot improve.She re-presented her pet to us within hours for a lack of improvement in his condition, and then consented to radiographs as well as additional diagnostics and hospitalization (all of which were suggested during her initial visit.)All of the diagnostics that were performed during the initial visit were clinically necessary in order to assess the patientHad the owner consented to having all items performed that were initially suggested at the first presentation, the diagnosis would have been provided to her at that time instead of when she represented the following dayAll charges are appropriateWe offered to perform the Surgery at a discounted rate due to her financial constraints, which she declined.While we recognize that the it appears to be "all about the money" because our invoices are higher than general practice veterinary office, what the majority of clients such as this client are not aware of is that Emergency Facilities are usually open 24/(hence more overhead), have more qualified staff (hence higher wages) and practice more advanced medicine and diagnostics (our own xray machine, our own blood machines, our own ultrasound equipment, oxygen on site, etc.)It is never a matter of simply charging people more money, it's a matter of covering what it costs to BE a facility that is available to our communities anytime they have a pet emergency; day, night, weekend, holiday, etc.As for the "we don't care about the welfare of the animals," this is the most difficult for us to hearClients such as this client are not in the facility when the animals that are hit by cars come to us leaving a trail of blood through the hospital and needing immediate surgery, or when Animal Control brings us dogs that have been shot or abused and clearly don't trust a single human being yet let our staff work on them.They aren't privy to the Owners who come to us and we discover that their dogs have untreatable cancer, or the owners who make the difficult decision to euthanize their pets and have to say goodbye.Clients such as this client don't get to witness that our overnight nurses are managing and taking care of very sick animals every hour overnight; administering medications, checking fluids, changing bedding, and sometimes just cuddling with the animals who need it mostThey don't get to witness some of the horrible abuse cases that are brought to our facility for careThey don't get a chance to see our staff hand-feeding emaciated dogs or abandoned kittensThey don't understand that Emergency Veterinary Facility staff spend time away from their own families and their own pets to care for STRANGERS' animalsEmergency Veterinary Facility Staff choose to be working at our facilities such as ours, especially overnight when most people are sleeping, because helping animals that need care is their calling.Our facility and our staff function very similarly to that of a human emergency roomDo people request a refund from a human hospital or Doctor's office because they had to come back the following day for additional services? I don't believe that to be trueHuman services are paid for as they are performed in order to properly diagnose, even if that means multiple days in a rowTrips to the human Emergency Room are expensive due to their specially trained staff, immediate-response equipment and 24-hr accessibilityStaying overnight in a human hospital is costly, even for the most basic of careThe same principals apply to Emergency Veterinary Services.We are not in the business of refunding payments for services that were necessary and rendered appropriatelyWe take the time to work within our client's financial constraints when it is possible and in the best interest of their animalsIn the case of this client, we did not overcharge her for services that were performed, as outlined above, and are therefore not inclined to refund her initial invoiced amount.Please let me know if you have any further questions or need any additional information for this issue.Sincerely,Jennifer D.Office Manager

January 8, 2016Dear Sir/Madam,Please allow this correspondence to server as follow up to the complaint filed on 11/7/2015 by [redacted], ID [redacted].[redacted] was contacted in regards to the cremation status of his beloved pet. We are pleased report that his pets remains were located,...

cremated as requested, and returned to [redacted] on or about November 10, 2015.Jennifer DOffice Manager