Dear Clients and Friends,
Wow, it’s been over 6 weeks since we began our curbside visits to Animal Medical Center of Chicago in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the safety of our staff and clients, and our desire to provide uninterrupted veterinary medical care to our patients during these unprecedented times, we divided our team in half. Drs. Pam Janik, Elaine Simpson and Meg Ogishi have been leading Team 1 and seeing clients Monday through Wednesday. Drs. Donna Solomon and Tim England have been leading Team 2 and seeing clients Thursday through Saturday. To accommodate our clients and the increased time we are now spending with each patient, we are now open till 6 pm on Fridays and 4 pm on Saturdays. Our Monday through Thursday hours of 7:30 am to 8 pm remain the same.
The first few weeks were quite an adjustment for all of us to seeing patients without their pet parents, but we’ve found our groove and surprisingly it’s working very well. We are all pleased with how well pets have adjusted to the absence of their parents. It definitely helps to provide them with lots of tasty treats to distract them. In fact, I think some of the pets appear quite proud of how well they are doing on their own – though I may be anthropomorphizing!
For those of you who have not been to AMCOC in last 6 weeks, I’d like to summarize what your experience will likely be:
1. You will call 773.525.3353 to schedule your appointment with a receptionist. To expedite your check out, please provide the receptionist with your credit card number. This will be encrypted and safely stored.
2. Please bring your cell phone to this appointment – this will be how the staff will communicate with you. Additionally, if your pet has favorite treats, please bring these too! For fearful and stressed pets, please ask us about anti-anxiety medication which must be given to your pet at least one hour before their appointment.
3. When you arrive at AMCOC, please call us from our parking lot or front porch to let us know that you are here. Next, a veterinary assistant and/or veterinarian will call you on your cell phone to take your pet’s history.
4. A member of our staff will soon meet you at the handicap side door entrance to escort your pet into the office. You will not be able to enter the practice during this pandemic. Your veterinarian will do a complete physical examination and then call you with their findings and recommendations.
5. At the conclusion of this visit, a receptionist will call you for payment, and then a team member will meet you at the handicap side door to return your pet. We will dispense medications and may provide you with written discharge instructions at this time as well.
6. We will email your receipt of payment shortly after that.
When at AMCOC, please respect social distancing of 6 feet and preferably wear a face mask when interacting with our staff. Our entire staff is dedicated to caring for your pets, and we want to be there for your pet’s veterinary care during these difficult times. This can only happen if our staff remains healthy!
These temporary changes may lengthen your waiting and appointment time a bit – so we thank you in advance for your patience. We know your time is valuable and we will do our best to be as expedient as possible without jeopardizing the care and quality of medicine and service we deliver.
Although being surrounded by pets all day is tremendously enjoyable and rewarding, we all miss our interactions with our clients. We all look forward to the day that we will welcome you into our building!
We wish you and your family good health.
Sincerely,
Donna Solomon, DVM
Owner of Animal Medical Center of Chicago
