Dear Clients,
This year marks my 20th year as the director of the Animal Hospital of Unionville. Back then we called ourselves Unionville Veterinary Clinic. We were only staffed during the day and like most other veterinarians in Ontario, everyone left the building after hours and we turned the lights off hoping that every animal was going to be found well in the cages the next morning. In 1996 we changed our name to reflect the major change in our standard of care. Like a human hospital we now have staff on premises during most of the night. I find it still surprising that most new clients assume that all veterinarians who keep animals over night are staffed like a hospital, yet this is far from the truth.
Over the years I had a lot of very good conversations with some of you, my customers and I am very grateful for your input. I have personally learned a lot from you and I believe that I have grown personally in these years. I have learned that the most important issue in veterinary medicine is to provide the best solutions for you and your pet, depending on the circumstances. And these circumstances are very different every time. It’s my job to adjust to your circumstances and develop the best approach that is feasible for you. I am going to share in these blog pages many of these experiences with you because I believe they are valuable lessons for all of us. To protect privacy, all names have been changed.
Good communication is so important to any relationship and I am proud that the University of Guelph has recognized this and invited me to coach their vet students to become more efficient communicators in the exam room.
On a personal note, many clients ask me what I am doing when I am not in the clinic. When I was younger, I worked 60 to 70 hour weeks for years in a row. This was very exhausting. Now I have a family with five girls – a very precious experience in life. After I heard the saying: Love is spelled t-i-m-e, I decided that I don’t want my children to tell me later that they wish I would have been at home more.
With my associates, Dr. Kineret Aloni-Goldman and our team members I have a wonderful, experienced, and capable group I can fully trust for everything to be handled well.
I hope you enjoy reading the stories and insights in the blog and … please… give me a call to talk to me about anything that will help improving the way we conduct our veterinary hospital. I want to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ernst Marsig
PS: If you are new to our hospital, or you don’t know me personally yet, you might want to read my open letter of introduction. It is quite unusual, but I just like to be frank.
Click Here: Open Letter from the Director
