Springfield Emergency Vet Hosp

I have come here many times, with my animals....the staff is always caring and straightforward. They try very hard to see everyone as quickly as possible, which is hard when you are an emergency hospital...

I am sorry that the person below had such a bad experience...but i do know that all of the referral practices are separate, so the internist that you saw has no ties to the emergency room or surgery dept, eye care, etc...

They have a wonderful staff there, hopefully, one doctor doesn't sour your opinion on the whole referral center...

My 14 month old vizsla was off his food one morning. Nothing unusual. That evening he was off his food still - VERY unusual. I took him to my regular vet (Dr. Schrinzel @ Hybla Valley). She was great, and immediately recognized that although his "vitals" were good, he was NOT his-self and recommended either Alexandria Emergency (w/ which I had BAD expererience) or Springfield Emergency. I took my baby to Springfield where I was greeted by a friendly, professional, compassionate and knowledgable staff. They looked over my "golden child" thoroughly and recognized some dehydration and abdominal pain. They admitted him and started running tests immediately. The first run of tests led them to recommending the next most likely test (which was NOT the most expensive). That test revealed my boy had swallowed bits of a rope toy which lodged in his small intestine. They performed surgery the same day he arrived and had part of his intestine removed. I have NO doubt that his survival is due soley to the dedicated staff of the critical care department. They did what they said, when they said, and kept me informed. He spent 3 days in critical care while recuperating and the vets, the techs, and the rest of the staff was WONDERFUL!. They treated me and my boy with kindness and compassion and didnt raise an eyebrow when I stopped by at odd hours to visit. They fully recognized him as my "child" and treated us accordingly. They eased my fears and made my worst nighmare tolerable. My baby is on the road to recovery, He is happy, healthy and grateful (and no longer playing w/ rope toys). I have never written a review of anything but these folks - well - they were spectacular. I would highly recommend them to ANYONE who is in an emergency situation (and I am VERY picky about my pets).

I am sorry the other reviewer had a bad experience with the bedside manner of the intern. Before I moved to a high-rise, my cat was indoor-outdoor and got severely hurt twice. Both times I called this hospital to let them know Iwas coming in and what the problem seemed to be, and that the cat would need to be stabilized. Both times there was an emergency vet there waiting to triage my cat. The second time, my cat could have lost his leg or died from bleeding if not for (a) the rapid and thorough emergency care and (b) the surgeon there who reconstructed his leg with 6 pins it. I waswartned the cat would at least limp forever....he wound up walking and running normally and lived another 10 years to age 17.

If I had concerns with a medical specialist, like the other reviewr- especially an intern or new person, I would try to be express that and hopefully get a senior medical person in there to review the case. For anybody with an emergency who can get to this hospital right off 95 on Springfield....I highly recommend them.

PROS:
CONS: Don't let the mixing bowl construction keep you away, easy to get to!

A couple of years ago, my husband and I had a beagle who had a rare infection. We were referred to Springfield Emergency Veterinary Hospital to see the internist on staff. While the facilities are state-of-the-art and some of the staff was great, we were very unimpressed with the internal medicine specialist. He behaved unprofessionally toward us, even though we had to have our dog put down. This is a good place to go if no other vet can help you-- it is a state of the art facility-- but I thought the vets we saw were a bit full of themselves and lacked compassion.

Update 6/29/06

And for the record, the vet we saw was one of the most senior vets on staff. He was the internist, not an intern. When we first got to the Springfield Emergency Veterinary Hospital we did see an intern and actually liked him better than the bigwig. It seemed to us that the vet we saw wanted to keep our dog around to study him, even though he was in a lot of pain and the care was very expensive. Again, this is a good place to go if no one else can help you... I'd probably try Southpaws Emergency Veterinary Hospital if I had another dog in trouble, though.

PROS: Cutting edge care
CONS: Unprofessional and arrogant veterinarians