Dr. Mark Jousan, Joanna Santana & Molly the dog.
support and companionship.
“If we couldn’t be there for their pets
who help them we would have let a lot
of clients down,” he says. “I just feel we
needed to be here for the people who have
been here for us, to protect that emotional
attachment of the human/pet bond that’s so
strong.”
By following state, federal and
American Veterinarian Medical Association
guidelines and adapting them to their own
specific situation and setup, Jousan and
staff continued serving the needs of area
pet owners.
“We had to cutback on some services,
we just couldn’t get surgery gloves and
some of the other essentials because all
the protective gear was being shifted to the
human side of medical treatment,” Jousan
says.
The clinic had to establish rules, like
requiring cats to be in a carrier.
“Even when the client says ‘no, it won’t
go anywhere’ — but if it gets out and we
lose it, that was one of my biggest fears,”
Jousan says.
“We’ve established some simple
guidelines within the clinic and so far
we’ve not had any issues. And I get back to
praising the staff for reading the animals
well and adapting well to the clients
circumstances,” he says.
That staff includes several long-time
employees, including Lecia Holt, Iliana
Rojas, Carolyn Lopez, Maddie Russell and
Joanna Santana. A new staff addition is
Klaryssa Gutierrez.
While curbside pickup service may be
more generally thought of in the retail or
restaurant environments, Jousan and his
crew drastically altered the way business
was done at the clinic by providing that
same level of curbside, or in this case,
parking lot, drop off and pick up service.
Lecia Holt says on many days she and
others on the staff would track four-a-half to
five miles just going in and out of the clinic
to client’s vehicles.
Initially Shelby Veterinary Services
limited inside access to one client and
their pet. But Jousan said due to the tight
quarters inside that did not work.
“A lot of people started advertising
curbside service and we just said ‘that’s
what we need to go to, not only to protect
ourselves, but to still be able to function
and work in a safe manner,’” he says. “It
took a few days to get things running fairly
smoothly but we tried to adapt to keep
people safe.”
Often times that resulted in a parking
lot filled with 10 or 15 cars and trucks with
clients either dropping off their animals
and picking them up later in the day, or
waiting while perhaps shots or other routine
services were provided, and their pets were
returned to their vehicles.
“We had a couple of clients whose
spouses had the disease, or other family
members had it,” he says. “We put on
masks, gloves, isolation gowns and shields
and still treated the pets.”
Most customers appreciated the extra
steps taken.
“We’ve had some clients who were
upset they couldn’t come into the clinic
with their pets, but most people were very
understanding,” Jousan says. “I feel blessed
to have a staff that was able to come in and
out when we decided this is what we’re
going to have to do, and they did it.”
A focus was placed on more efficiently
utilizing the staff’s time to minimize wait
time for clients.
“I’m a people person so I miss having
the client in their with their pets, because I
enjoy visiting with them, it’s more than just
the vet work we talk about” he says. Jousan
looks forward to the days when the COVID
pandemic is a thing of the past.
6 Business MATTERS | 2020 Fall Edition