EVANSVILLE — Reflecting the reality of a years-long national veterinarian shortage, the VCA All Pet Emergency Center in Evansville, or APEC, has announced reduced emergency services hours – including closures on Mondays and Tuesdays – until further notice.
A post on the clinic’s Facebook page attributed the decision to “an ongoing shortage of veterinary staff.”
“This decision has not been made lightly, and our top priority remains continuing to provide emergency care for your pets as much as we can while maintaining the safety and well-being of our team,” the post read.
Effective Saturday, these will be the clinic’s new weekend ER hours:
As of Monday, Aug. 4, the clinic’s new weekday ER hours include being closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and opening from 6 p.m. until midnight on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
For emergencies that fall outside its new hours, the clinic recommended contacting primary care veterinarians. It provided a list of alternative emergency centers, but none of those are within short driving distance of Evansville.
They are:
‘A week in St. Bart’s’
The veterinarian shortage in Evansville, and the rest of America, has been a fact of life for years.
In 2021, the Courier & Press reported that APEC had begun closing two nights a week, attributing the closures to a shortage of veterinarians then as now.
A lack of manpower was and is being acutely felt in Southwest Indiana veterinary settings ranging from small independent hospitalsto APEC, the area’s only all-night emergency clinic.
Kendall Paul, CEO of the Vanderburgh Humane Society (VHS), said Wednesday the vet shortage inevitably means tragedy for some pet owners.
“We already have had situations where people have called us and have discussed with us that their animal has died on the way to one of the other locations when (APEC) was not available to them,” Paul said. “An animal that might have been able to be saved if gotten to the emergency clinic in town, does not make it for the long car ride.”
A city the size of Evansville should be able to provide 24-hour emergency pet care, Paul said, “but the national vet shortage is certainly playing a big factor in what’s available to our community.”
What would need to happen to attract more veterinarians to Evansville or to any other city?
It’s the same as with other professions, Paul said. Attractive housing options. A thriving social scene. Good pay. Incentives.
“I’ve seen advertisements that offer a $25,000 signing bonus and a week in St. Bart’s,” the VHS head said. “They’ll throw in all kinds of things, just to try to try to get somebody to sign with them.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville’s emergency vet clinic reduces hours amid ongoing veterinarian shortage
Reporting by Thomas B. Langhorne, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
