BOISE, Idaho — If you have taken your pet to the vet recently, you might have noticed a longer wait time. The delay is because some veterinary clinics are dealing with a shortage of veterinarians. Dr. Michael Marshall is a veterinarian with Boise Animal Health and Urgent Care.
Marshall said right now in the Treasure Valley, there is an overwhelming need for veterinary services to meet the demand. He also said the Boise clinic is actively working to recruit, but not having much luck just yet.
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“Just about every area practice is booked up,” Marshall said. “So, clients are trying to get in and they normally could right away, but it's taking weeks to get in, so they're coming to places like us or West Vet or All Valley, which are experiencing just really long wait times and the real logjam, I guess, is just the number of veterinarians.”
At the Ada Animal Hospital in Boise, Dr. Jennifer Norman is the owner of the facility, but she told KTVB, she is also the only veterinarian right now. Norman said this shortage has been going on since 2020 when the pandemic first started.
On average, she sees between 40 and 45 patients a day, but because of the shortage, some clients are seeing longer wait times and, in some cases, she is referring pet owners to emergency centers or they are triaging. So, what's behind this shortage?
“I think that it's the number of veterinary graduates that we have, but I think a bigger portion of it really is more of the veterinary burnout side of things," Norman said. "It can be exhausting and it takes that mental toll on the veterinarians and we're seeing a huge burnout issue in the veterinary profession too. So, veterinarians are wanting to go to part time, they're wanting to, you know, cut back on emergency hours just because of the heartbreak that it can lead to and the toll and the stress that it can take.”
At Companions Animal Hospital, the biggest challenge they are facing right now is finding and keeping quality support staff, according to owner Tyson Miller.
KTVB reached out to 10 other veterinarian clinics and hospitals in the Treasure Valley. While not all of the businesses responded by Thursday afternoon, Banfield Pet Hospital, Northwest Animal Hospital and Bench Animal Hospital told KTVB, they too, are dealing with a shortage of veterinarians.
All of the veterinarians KTVB spoke with ask pet owners to be patient with them, and they apologize for the extra wait time.
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