Emergency Coverage

It's been a while since I posted. I think it's mostly because the last few days have been enjoyable, and I've had little to complain about. The weather has been good, there hasn't been an insane amount of calls, nothing crazy weird, or unexpected. I guess that means that my karma is coming. Oy.

I would like to bring up a subject that has been bothering me though and see what you all think. A nearby all equine veterinary clinic decided last fall that they would no longer see emergencies. I understand this-- it's VERY easy to get burnt out quickly with emergencies, and sometimes you just have to put yourself and your family first.

As far as I can tell, the decision was arbitrarily made and none of the clientele were informed. In fact, if you call the office one minute after 5:00pm, the phone just rings and rings. There's no message, no notification that they will not be calling you back, no name and phone number of a veterinarian that will see emergencies, nothing. Many times, our clinic has received emergency calls from these clients who are downright enraged by the situation. We have even picked up a few clients who have made the switch to us because of the lack of emergency coverage and poor communication about the decision to stop providing it.

My hunch is that this clinic did not inform their clients because they do not want to lose any business to us (the only people in the area that see 24 hour equine emergencies) or to anyone else. Do you think it is unethical to leave your clients high and dry like this? Does not providing the name of an emergency clinic count as "failing to provide emergency service" as it says in our licensure rules and requirements? I'd like to hear anyone's thoughts. The whole situation irks me to no end.