Associate Veterinarian

Lake Road Animal Hospital, a privately owned companion animal practice in Horseheads, New York is looking to add an energetic, buoyant, full (or part)-time associate veterinarian.  Our practice focuses on preventative care and client education to strengthen the bond between pet parent and pet.  In addition, our medical team thirsts for knowledge and has a strong desire to continue improving skills and treatment options with progressive therapies.  Appointments are scheduled to facilitate optimal time to meet the needs of the patient and accommodate doctor work style.  We are currently fully curbside, and will continue to provide care in this manner until such time that effective treatments and a safe vaccine for COVID are available.  Our team and clients have adjusted beautifully to this model of care, and we are regularly praised by our clients for maintaining our standard of care and compassion.

Our hospital is located just a short distance from the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of New York.  With its thriving agribusiness, the Finger Lakes region has become a vibrant area offering a quality of life not easily found.  Ithaca (a small city offering cultural sophistication many large cities can not rival) and Watkins Glen are both located within 45 minutes from the practice.  If you enjoy wine or craft beers, the Finger Lakes area is for you!  Those are just a bonus to all the recreational activities provided by the area year-round.  A few of the popular outdoor activities in this region include: boating, hiking, biking, waterfall viewing, skiing, sledding, and snowmobiling.  The city of Corning is also just a short distance from the practice and offers its own quaint sophistication.

Our practice offers Idexx DR digital radiography, Idexx in-house laboratory equipment, ultrasound, digital dental radiography, regenerative therapy, and therapeutic laser.  We have partnered with TeleTails to offer streaming and remote telehealth services for our clients.  We are a Cat Friendly certified practice, and have a dedicated feline only examination room.  Many of our team members are Fear Free Certified, and low stress handling is practiced.  We are a paper light practice and utilize Cornerstone practice management software to maintain electronic medical records.  Doctors are provided with an assistant to enter notes into the EMR while exams are performed, as well as create estimates and invoices.  Doctors also have a second assistant to perform patient handling in exam rooms.  Our practice is a member of a Well-Managed Practice Group facilitated by Denise Tumblin of Wutchiett, Tumblin, and Associates (a nationally renowned veterinary management and valuation specialists).  We have fostered a strong relationship with Cornell University, and utilize their referral services for complex cases.

Dr. Brennen, our Practice Owner, has a strong interest in advanced orthopedic procedures, and currently provides tibial tuberosity advancement surgery for Lake Road patients as well as patients from many surrounding practices.  We would love to find someone with an interest in developing a rehabilitation program, as this would be a fantastic complement to our current offerings.

Our standard of care is not inexpensive for clients.  We do not apologize for our fees or the care we recommend.  Instead we have pulled in a multitude of tools to help make our care affordable for clients.  Our team is fully capable of managing all financial conversations so that doctors are not in the position of “bargaining” with clients to provide minimal level care. 

We employ a full-time practice manager, and four licensed veterinary technicians (this number will increase with the addition of another veterinarian).  Our veterinary assistants and customer service representatives are well trained, long-term staff members.  In the year prior to COVID, our practice experienced ZERO turnover.  Leadership at Lake Road Animal Hospital firmly believes that the key to a successful veterinary practice lies within the team.  We work hard to ensure our team is happy, learning, engaged, excited, and cohesive.  Drama does NOT fill our days!  Our current staff to doctor ratio is 5:1.  We have multiple tools in place to facilitate communication, team-building, and reinforcement of our core values.  Our team is empowered and supported by leadership.  Our team is highly valued, and we work diligently to ensure that all members of the team are fulfilled and challenged in their role.  We have a strong commitment to CE for all team members.  We strive for excellence and take great pride in our practice.

We recently closed our boarding facility, and will be renovating that building to allow us to increase our number of exam rooms, create a beautiful new space for our cat only exam room and comfort room, and potentially a rehabilitation facility.

We share after hours emergency care with five other area practices, which results in on-call time one evening (Wednesday) per week until 8 pm and less than one Sunday per month from 9 am to 2 pm (no holiday weekends are part of on-call duty).  Our on-call time is rotated between veterinarians.  A highly skilled licensed veterinary technician screens all emergency calls for veterinarians.  Outside of the hours noted, emergencies are sent to Cornell University.

We offer Saturday appointments from 8:30 am until 2 pm.  Each veterinarian is scheduled to cover one Saturday per month.  We do not “short staff” weekend hours, and have a full staff of 5 scheduled to support our doctor.

We encourage applicants of any experience level to apply.  We are more interested in your enthusiasm for your chosen profession and your ability to assimilate into our practice culture, than we are in your current veterinary skill set.  Our current doctors are experienced, talented, collaborative, and take pride in mentoring.

We offer a blended production/salary based compensation (with NO negative accrual), emergency compensation, medical insurance, vacation, continuing education time and budget, Simple IRA (with match), professional licenses and dues, malpractice insurance, and reduced cost pet care.  Ownership opportunity in the future will be available, and an interest in ownership is a plus.  Please note that all compensation and benefits are negotiable to create the package that meets doctor and business needs and desires.  

To learn more about us, please visit our website at www.lakeroadanimalhospital.com and connect with us on social media: (https://www.facebook.com/lakeroadanimalhospital/ and https://www.instagram.com/lakeroadanimalhospital/).

If you are interested in applying for this position, please forward your resume and cover letter to Carrie Bowgren, Practice Manager.