At Pine Grove Veterinary Hospital our mission is to provide unsurpassed, customized, compassionate care focused on excellence, integrity, respect, and continued commitment to education. We understand the very special role pets play in your life. We are committed to the health and well-being of our patients. We sincerely appreciate the trust that you have placed in us and believe that clear and defined expectations and open communication are important. This is why we have created the client rights and responsibilities available below.
As a client, you have the right to…
- Accurate, clear, and objective information about your pet’s health.
- Receive explanations about our teams’ decisions which would include reasons for why our staff may decline to treat your pet or provide a specific service.
- Know your pet’s diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment options, including the risks and benefits, based on our capabilities and resources available to us.
- Be informed of the costs of service we are recommending in advance of them being performed in the form of a treatment plan.
- Participate in decisions regarding your pet’s care, including declining treatment options presented.
- Share your questions, concerns, thoughts, or wishes and have them heard by our team.
- Considerate, respectful, compassionate care and communication from our team.
- A fair and objective review of any complaint or problem that you may have.
- Assurance that your personal and medical information is handled in a confidential and private manner.
- Receive respect for your time and communication regarding any anticipated delays related to your appointment or follow-ups.
As a client, you are responsible to…
- Disclose relevant, accurate, and complete medical and behavioral history to our team, including previous medical records or what clinic(s) to contact.
- Maintain a respectful and considerate demeanor when communicating with any member of our team.
- Share questions or concerns about anything we’ve discussed or left unaddressed.
- Honor your financial obligations and payment policies agreed to when your pet receives care.
- Help us provide care to other patients by abiding by our scheduling and appointment guidelines.
- Work collaboratively with your pet’s care team to develop and perform the agreed-upon treatment plan, including any necessary follow-up visits and at-home care
- Be aware of the consequences for actions or behavior inconsistent with this client rights and responsibilities document, including potential termination of the veterinary-client-patient relationship.
Scheduling Policy
Pine Grove Veterinary Hospital sees patients by appointment only. Walk-in visits will be triaged and scheduled to the next available time or referred to Huronia Veterinary Emergency Clinic. We are not an emergency hospital but may have availability to treat urgent medical issues with prior arrangements – please call us at 705-325-2279 before bringing in your pet. Please note that we set aside appointments each day for urgent medical issues, if our appointment schedule is full and we are already providing care for other patients, we may be unable to assist you.
Appointments can be arranged by phone or text (705-325-2279), or email (reception@pgvh.ca). For emergency care outside of our business hours, please contact Huronia Veterinary Emergency Clinic at 705-722-0377.
Our veterinarians are not available for consultations outside of scheduled appointments and subsequent follow-ups. If you would like to speak directly to a veterinarian about an issue, please schedule a consultation (see above).
Late Arrival Policy
For unforeseen delays a client may encounter while traveling to our clinic a grace period of 5 minutes will be permitted. If a client arrives more than 5 minutes after their scheduled appointment time, the following options will be given:
Being seen the same day as a walk-in, if the schedule permits, this may mean that the client will be asked to come back later on in the day of have to wait for an available appointment.
Appointment will be rescheduled for a later date.
This process is to help ensure that clients arriving on time for their appointment are seen in a timely manner.
Canceling or Rescheduling Appointments
Our goal is to provide care to any patient that is in need. We understand there are sometimes situations outside of your control and you may be unable to keep your scheduled appointment. If you find yourself in this situation, please notify us 48 hours in advance so that we are able to help another patient in need. Appointments canceled within less than 48 hours of the scheduled start time will result in a requirement to prepay a deposit when you schedule your pet’s next appointment. If this prepaid appointment is kept, your deposit will be applied to the invoice. If this prepaid appointment is not kept, your deposit will be forfeit.
Payment Policy
Payment is required at the time services are rendered. In order to maintain our focus on patient care and customer service, we do not bill for services nor offer in-house repayment plans. In exchange, we promise to keep you informed of the costs of service in advance in the form of a treatment plan. Medical circumstances may change unexpectedly and we assure to keep you informed of how those changes may influence your financial obligations.
Mutual Respect Policy
Questions and concerns will be handled by our team of highly qualified and knowledgeable Client Service Representatives (CSR), Registered Veterinary Technicians (RVT), Veterinary Assistants (VA), Veterinarians and management team. All team members should be treated with the same respect as that provided to our Veterinarians. If team members are relaying advice or information, rest assured you are talking to someone who has been authorized and trained by the Veterinarians to provide the advice or information you are receiving.
Medical Records and a Veterinary Client Patient Relationship
By law, in order to provide care for your pet we must establish a veterinary-client-patient relationship, VCPR. This means, among other things, that we have physically examined the patient in question within the past 365 days. This is important to note when requesting refills of prescription medication or food, asking questions regarding health status or behavior, and requesting certain services. We cannot provide these services if we do not have a legally valid VCPR.
You are entitled to a complete and thorough copy of your pet’s medical records at any time, including having the, transferred to a third party for adoption of new pets, scheduling of lodging, daycare, training, or veterinary medical specialist appointments. Pet records will be transferred by your request within 24 hours. Record transfers may only be requested by the listed agent(s) the patient’s account. Upon termination of a veterinary client patient relationship, we will transfer pets’ records to a veterinary facility of your choice.