We have some big changes that are coming to the AAWL Community Vet Clinic that we are so excited to share with you! Some of you may recognize the AAWL Low-Cost Community Vet Clinic as MD PetCare, and we are so grateful for everyone that has chosen us to support them and their pets over the years.
In recent years, the veterinary shortage has impacted our ability to provide consistent vet care to pets in need. Without a full-time veterinary team, we have relied on part-time veterinarians to staff our general practice. This has made it difficult to ensure continuity of care, especially for pets with chronic issues. In fact, it wasn’t unusual for clients to wait months for an appointment at our clinic. We know we can and must do more to save more lives.
Starting Saturday, March 2, 2024, our Community Vet Clinic will be transitioning from a full-service low- cost vet clinic to providing low-cost prevention and wellness services only. We will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays to provide vaccines, flea/tick/heartworm preventative treatments, nail trims, treatment for basic ear infections, and more. Although we will no longer provide surgeries or treat chronic conditions, this transition will allow pet owners to schedule preventative wellness exams with a veterinarian in a timelier manner.
While we know this is a big change, especially for our clients who have been with us for many years, we are making this transition to become more accessible to pet owners and ultimately help more pets by providing services that are desperately needed.
To better understand the most important needs, we’ve spent the last two years surveying over 700 pet owners in our community. Through these conversations, we learned that the most-needed services are vaccines and preventative care, and that pet owners do not have access to low-cost providers for these services because of barriers like limited availability of appointments and other factors. These surveys helped inform this shift in our vet clinic services to better meet the needs of people and pets in our community.
If you have any questions about this transition or about our services, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our AAAWL Community Vet Clinic team at vetclinic@aawl.org or 602-358-7267. We hope you continue to choose us for your pet’s preventative and wellness needs!
To learn more about our new services check our low-cost Community Vet Clinic click here.
