The Appointment That Did Not Happen
A three-year-old golden retriever named Biscuit needed his annual exam and vaccines. His owner called four clinics before finding one with an opening in the next two weeks. The first three had waits of 18, 22, and 31 days. Two of those clinics are within five miles of each other.
Every time a clinic says we are fully booked, that is a client who may not come back. In most cases the availability problem is not a demand problem. It is a staffing one.
Adding Capacity Without the Full-Time Cost
A clinic owner in the greater Seattle area found herself consistently booked three to four weeks out. Her two full-time DVMs were performing well but the demand had grown past their capacity. Hiring a third full-time associate meant salary, benefits, mentorship time, and long-term commitment before she knew whether the volume would hold.
Instead, she worked with Your Neighbor Vet to add one relief DVM two days per week. Within 60 days her wait time dropped from 22 days to under 5. Her clients could even see a veterinarian on the same day, when it’s urgent. She picked up a substantial monthly revenue. The relief arrangement cost a fraction of that.
Relief Staffing as a Growth Strategy
This is what forward-thinking clinic owners understand. Relief vets are not a fallback for when someone is sick. They are a legitimate tool for growing your practice, testing extended hours, absorbing seasonal surges, and reducing the risk of over-hiring full-time staff before you are ready.
Your Neighbor Vet works with clinics across Washington and Oregon to match the right relief professionals to the right practices, with the flexibility to scale up or down as your needs change.
Ready to take the next step?
If your waitlist is longer than it should be, let us talk. Contact Your Neighbor Vet at 425-448-8882 or yourneighborvet.com and we will explore what adding relief coverage could do for your patient volume and your bottom line.
Related reading: Is a Relief Vet Right for Your General Practice? · 5 Signs Your Clinic Needs Relief Staff Right Now