Riser Animal Hospital Fall Newsletter
Hello friends of Riser,
We are very excited to announce that we are semi re-opening on Monday, November 15th. It has been too long for us not seeing our clients face to face. The staff and management team have been working hard over the past few months planning our re-opening strategy, we have hired additional staff to help with the high demand, and are working on ways to help streamline our client communication.
To help with communication we have implemented Teleflow. This communication platform is integrated within our software and allows for thorough communication and documentation in regards to your pet’s needs. It is managed by internal staff. Visit our website www.riserah.com, to request to chat with a staff member or doctor. This platform not only allows for chat functions but you can easily request an appointment. The appointment request is very fast, just let us know if there is a specific day of the week, time, and doctor you’d like to see. You can also put through a request of medication or food to pick up (this request is immediately sent and alerts our internal pharmacy department. The platform even has the option to request medical and vaccination records. We urge our clients to take advantage of the benefits of this service. As we implement this throughout our hospital you may receive messages from our doctors and staff via this platform for follow-up lab results, follow-ups on surgery, or illness appointments, etc. You will receive a text message and email notification with a link to chat. Please make sure your email address and cell phone number are up-to-date. Again, if you would like to initiate a conversation just visit our website at riserah.com. The first time requesting a chat you will receive an email to verify your message or request (this is just the built-in security feature).
We have also made some changes to our phone system. We had tried an external service to help with the high call volume though this service wasn’t much help for us or our clients. To help serve our clients better we have added additional incoming phone lines and an option to leave a voicemail for when we are experiencing a high call volume. Our team is wonderful and usually will return voicemails within a few minutes to a few hours. If you have an emergency we would recommend calling again or contacting your closest emergency hospital. And again, you can always request the chat function on our website and can be connected to the doctor or team. One of our most common client complaints was receiving a busy signal when trying to call in. Our volume has drastically increased but we are hopeful with the option of Teleflow that it will be a problem of the past.
Starting November 15th, we will be offering in-person veterinary visits for pets with illness or sick appointments. We will still be offering the option of curbside visits. If all goes as plan our goal is to allow for in-person visits for routine-annual appointments at the end of November. Curbside appointments will be recommended for those at high risk, or based on their preference. We will be allowing one client per appointment for in-person visits.
What to expect with our re-opening plan?
- Within 48 hours of your pet’s appointment, you will receive a text message to confirm your upcoming appointment. Once your appointment has been confirmed, you will receive a message with instructions for your upcoming appointment along with a medical history form to fill out before the visit. This allows for better appointment efficiency. We do have a 24-hour cancelation policy in place. So please if you need to reschedule for any reason notify us so we can assist another patient in need.
- An hour to 30 minutes before your appointment you will receive a text message in regards to your upcoming appointment, instructing you to alert us to when you arrive in the parking lot this will prompt you to enter the parking spot you are parked in (we have 12 colored numbered parking cones in the lot) and the color of your vehicle.
- Once the assistant has an available room, we will escort you directly into an exam room with your pet. We will only be allowing one client per pet in the exam room. Any additional people will be asked to remain in the vehicle. We understand this may be difficult especially for those with children, for those situations we can still provide curbside visits.
- Should your pet require additional diagnostics or treatment during the appointment time, our staff will recommend that you wait in your vehicle so we can prepare and thoroughly clean the room for the next client/patient. The doctor or assistant will contact you via telephone once the diagnostics/treatments are complete and complete your appointment via curbside.
- We understand everyone is excited to return to activities outside their homes and find some new sense of normal. However, following CDC guidelines for healthcare facilities, we are still requiring face coverings while inside the building or while interacting with our team no matter vaccination status. We remain committed to providing a safe environment for our patients, our clients, their families, and our team. You must wear your mask appropriately. This means covering your nose and mouth. Please do not remove your mask while in the building.
- Please do not argue with our team about wearing a mask. We are a medical facility. We understand you are vaccinated. We have neither the desire nor manpower to monitor vaccination status. Please do not inquire about our teams’ vaccinations status as we feel strongly their personal medical history is between them and their health care providers. They have been instructed not to engage in these conversations.
- Technician appointments will remain curbside.
- Medication and food pick-up will remain curbside.
- Our lobby will remain closed.
- We will continue closing the office for lunch Monday-Friday from 12:30-2 pm. Any chat requests will be responded to after the lunch period.
Should COVID cases begin to rise or staff illnesses begin to occur we as a hospital may opt to return to full curbside. As we have stated this entire time, the safety and health of our team, patients, and clients have always been our number one priority.
Please remember that our team is working as hard as possible in uncertain times, and just like the rest of the world, we are tired. We are tired of our team being berated, yelled at, or cursed at. This behavior is unacceptable and our team does not deserve it. It is those moments that our heart hurts because we know just how defeated our team feels. The entire team at Riser works extremely hard, they are compassionate and kind people. Nobody gets into working with animals for the money (as it is one of the most underpaid professions), we do it for the love. We love caring for your pets even when the job is hard. There are a lot of days that this job is hard, especially when we are dealing with sick-critical patients and euthanasia appointments helping grieving families. We ask that you show our team kindness and patience as we transition with re-opening. Please note that some of our team has never worked with clients in the building and some for only a short time with them before the pandemic occurred. It will be an adjustment. We have appreciated the vast majority of clients who have shown us understanding, kindness, and compassion. For those, we are extremely grateful. They remind us of our core values as a hospital. We are excited to see you in person!
Thank you and remember, just be kind,
The dedicated doctors and team of Riser Animal Hospital
