The Full-Time Hire Assumption
When a clinic grows to the point where its doctors are consistently overbooked, the instinct is to hire another full-time associate. That is often the right call. But it comes with salary, benefits, equipment, onboarding time, and a long-term commitment made before you know whether the volume will sustain.
For many clinics, especially those in growth phases or in markets with fluctuating seasonal demand, relief staffing is the smarter first move.
Before comparing your options, it helps to understand the real cost of a staffing gap—not just the price of relief coverage.
How the Math Works
A relief DVM typically costs you a daily rate, and only on the days you need them. You do not pay for their vacation time, their health insurance, or the two slow weeks after the holidays when your appointment volume drops. You pay for the coverage and the revenue it generates, and nothing more.
For a clinic that is turning away ten appointments per week due to capacity, one relief DVM working two days per week can recover that lost revenue and then some. The cost of the relief coverage is a fraction of the appointments billed.
Using Relief Strategically, Not Just Reactively
The clinics that get the most from relief staffing are the ones that use it as a business tool, not an emergency measure. Extended hours on Saturdays. Additional capacity during spring and fall wellness seasons. Coverage during the summer vacation crunch. Your Neighbor Vet helps you plan this proactively so relief staffing becomes part of how your clinic grows.
Ready to take the next step?
If you are leaving appointments unbilled because of capacity, let us talk about what strategic relief staffing could do for your clinic. Contact Your Neighbor Vet at 425-448-8882 or yourneighborvet.com. The math usually surprises people.
Related reading: Avoiding the Hidden Costs of Understaffing · The Real Cost of a Staffing Gap