Dear Clients of Allen Heights Vet Hospital,

It is with deep sadness and a good dose of frustration that we are announcing the closure of Allen Heights Veterinary Hospital.  Our last day of seeing patients will be July 1^st.

The economic and labor forces brought about by the pandemic and the ‘great resignation’ have pushed this business to its breaking point.  We have tried to hire and we have worked with a broker to try to sell/merge practices, but nothing has panned out.  When we are constantly under staffed we can’t offer the appointments and surgery services that keep us a vital practice.  That is why we are closing the hospital.

What this means to you:

• As of Tuesday May 31st we will have a phone tree answering the phone for non-urgent calls. You will be directed to leave a message on the appropriate line.  For example, medication requests,   callbacks, appts and record requests will all have their own line.  We are monitoring the phones and will get back to you within 24 hours.  Please communicate through texting(413 443 4949) and email (Allenheightsvet@gmail.com) when possible.   We continue to be short staffed and our focus needs to be taking care of patients, so please leave phone messages, text and email and reserve phone conversations for urgent needs.  
• After July 1, for a period of time, we will continue to follow up on communications, but it may not be on a daily basis.
• We will be operating on modified schedule for the month of June. Surgery and dental procedures for the first two weeks only.  All other pending surgery and dental procedures will be deferred to your future veterinary service.
• Emergency and Urgent care: We will triage any emergency on site.  Urgent care will be triaged by phone to see if an emergent visit is needed and will be fit into our schedule as best we can accommodate.  We may have to refer out for definitive care if deemed necessary. 
• Animals with chronic or life-long medication and prescription foods will get prescriptions filled with as many refills as we can provide within the scope of the veterinary and pharmacy regulations. Please call us before June 25^th so we can order or refill what you need.  If you order and prepay we can stock up and have your order reserved for you.  We will still be using Covetrus (our online pharmacy) and ordering through Wedgewood for compounded meds for the time being. 

If you received a paper copy of this letter, we do not have your email address.  Email will be our preferred method of communication.  Please leave a message, text or email us your preferred email address.

• Now through July we will be emailing you copies of your pets records. If you need them sooner, please let us know.  If you are unable receive emails we can email them to your new vet, just let us know who that is.  If you need paper copies mailed to you or a detailed copy of the records, there will be a small fee for this.

You may still receive reminder cards and emails from the computerized service.  We will be disabling these as soon as possible.  If you get a reminder, please follow up with your new vet for the service listed on the card.

A list of the central Berkshire County vets and the 24/7 emergency services is included below.

Thank you so much for your patronage over the years.  It has meant a lot to us to have run a successful vet practice for 15 years.  We were able to build up a good practice with our friendly, caring, talented and dedicated staff.   Over the years we’ve made some friends, shared lots of animal stories, laughs, and tears.  We will all miss seeing your pets at the hospital and miss chatting with you.

God Bless,

Dr. Elizabeth Tullett

Brian Caraker

And the staff of Allen Heights Vet.

Local Veterinary Hospitals

Emergency Referral Numbers:

VESH (South Deerfield) 413 665-4911

Upstate Veterinary Specialties (Latham) 518 783-3198

Capital District Referral Hospital (Latham) 518 785-1094

Emergency care:  Sick pets and emergent needs will be seen during the day.  Our after hour emergency care has changed due to staffing.  We are on call M-Th, some Friday evenings until 9 pm.  This is a phone triage service.  We don't have on call staff for weekend after hour emergencies.   If deemed necessary, you will be referred to one of our emergency referral hospitals.  Our after hours emergency number is 413 347 9033.

Outside our triage service hours, we have partnered with VetTriage to offer video telehealth services. The VetTriage veterinarians are available 24/7 and for a small fee, will assess your pet on a live video chat to determine if your pet requires immediate emergency care, or simple monitoring at home until we reopen. In the event of an emergency care, or simple monitoring at home until we reopen. In the event of an emergency, they will coordinate your visit to the on-call hospital of the evening.

If you do not have internet service or a smart phone, they can also be reached by phone at 702 483 8533.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,
Dr Tullett and the staff of AHVH

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