Tell me a little bit about your background & your practice.
I’ve been in private practice with small animals since 1999, so 25 years now. Time flies when you're having fun!
I became the practice owner after 10 years of being at my current hospital, and unfortunately, it was in a time of duress. My practice owner passed away tragically and unexpectedly. So there I was, left with this hospital to run and a lack of help.
Was that how you started working with Relief Professionals?
Yes. I actually hired Cindy Trice, founder of Relief Rover, as a Relief Vet at the time.
Locally, because of this tragedy with my boss, people knew what happened and had offered to help. But, at the time, there was no formal network to find relief vets.
Why Relief Rover and how is it different from other Relief Platforms?
So fast forward a few years.
During COVID, I had an associate, but unfortunately, her dad was immunocompromised, and she really needed to be careful with bringing that home to him, so she took a leave of absence.
So there I was again, during COVID, the height of curbside and chaos, needing an associate.
Cindy got me set up with Relief Rover, where I was able to find the relief help we needed and connect with that community during a hard time for us all.
I considered using other relief agencies or tools, but we’re a small practice, and every hire, whether relief or not, is deeply personal. Some of our clients have been coming for decades, and we have teammates who have worked here for a long time.
With other tools, I couldn’t meet the relief professionals before they were sent to us and we were required to pay for travel, room and board. It didn’t take much time for the costs to outweigh the benefits.
We wanted something to allow us to feel more in control of who we brought into our team and culture.
Another benefit of Relief Rover is that we can convert a relief worker into a full-time employee if it’s a mutual fit.
We had a relief vet that we found on Relief Rover work for us for about six months and we then hired them on as an associate. It’s great to have that “try before you buy” for both the veterinarian and the practice!
They can get a feel for the practice culture, and we can get a feel for their working style before getting into a long-term employment contract.
Also, the relief workers we’ve gotten from Relief Rover have raved about the resources and community they get from it.
With the resources and education Relief Rover provided, many relief vets have come more prepared when negotiating and working with our practice.
How do you utilize relief veterinarians in your practice?
Other than the more last-minute or unexpected absences, we encourage our staff to use their PTO and plan vacations.
When our staff plans those vacations, we get those dates posted well in advance to have full coverage with relief professionals.
Relief vets are in hot demand, especially in Florida, where people try to escape the heat and go north in the summer. So, their schedules fill up quickly, and it’s great to have that full talent pool we’ve cultivated via Relief Rover to reach out to.
How do you set relief professionals up for success in your practice?
We train our staff in how to speak to clients about booking appointments with the relief vet to ensure confidence in them. They’ll use phrases like “they’re a part of our team,” or “Dr. Lantry trusts them with the care of your pet,” so that there’s no “substitute teacher that’s just gonna put on a movie” feeling about it.
And, because we’ve had long-term relationships with some of these relief vets, we can even refer to previous appointments the client had with them.
Additionally, if the relief professional is working with us for a month or so, and let’s say an animal came in for an ear infection, we’ll make sure the relief vet is the person to see them for the recheck to have that continuity.
What’s a specific magic moment you’ve had with Relief Rover?
Honestly, when my associate took a leave of absence at the beginning of COVID, I truly had a moment of panic. I just thought back to when I was left to run the practice by myself before, and without Relief Rover, I would have had a really tough go at it.
Relief Rover helped us fill shifts over those months and gave a significant boost to our hospital so we could keep seeing patients at the volume we needed to. It also enabled me to not have to be there every single day so I could protect my mental wellbeing in such a turbulent time, too. It really made all the difference.
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