New Operations Procedures At Hewitt Veterinary Hospital Beginning Monday, 3/16/2020

http://hewittvet.com/news will be updated frequently as the COVID-19 situation develops. If you are planning to visit our veterinary hospital in the next several weeks or months, please check this page first for any updates. Bookmark and refer to this page for subsequent updates.

Dear Hewitt Veterinary Hospital Family,

As you know, we have been closely monitoring the developing situation concerning the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 outbreak. As recently as Sunday, 3/15/2020, Waco-McLennan County Public Health District were continuing to state that “there are NO cases of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Waco and McLennan County.” They continue to advise that risks are relatively low in Central Texas. However, while there may be no known cases in our city, we feel it is wise to take extra precautions before government recommendation because there has been very limited testing to date, there is some evidence that there are potentially infected/contagious individuals who are asymptomatic, the virus spreads easily (R0>2), has been spreading in communities worldwide for several weeks/months, has a fairly long incubation period, and can cause severe symptoms in certain individuals. Furthermore, confirmed cases have begun to appear close to our area, and a new UCLA/Princeton/National Institutes of Health (NIH) study has been published indicating that SARS-CoV-2 can remain on certain surfaces for an extended amount of time (up to ~4 days) and can remain viable in aerosolized form in the air for over 3 hours, creating a potential risk of transmission through inhalation of the virus after a sick person has left an indoor area.  

Anyone who has been to our vet hospital recently knows that our lobby can practically be classified as a “mass gathering” - we often have 300 or more people enter our building on a daily basis! The procedures that we have developed to continue safe operations during the COVID-19 pandemic are designed to protect our clients, their families, our team, and our community. They will also ensure that we are able to best care for your beloved pets during this time.

Please bookmark and continue to check this page for additional frequent updates.

We expect frequently changing operations to continue for several weeks, and we will update this news page as we make changes.

Upon your visit to us on or after Monday 3/16/2020 we will be operating temporarily as follows:

1.       Upon your arrival we ask that you remain in your vehicle.

2.       A member of our team will greet you at your vehicle, take your name, pets name, a good contact number, and the reason for your visit. 

3.       A member of the appropriate team will contact you via phone to provide instructions for your pet’s visit or your purchase of food/medications. 

4.       If you are purchasing food or medications, our team will bring those to you and conduct the checkout procedure over the phone or at your car.

5.       If this is a pet visit, the remainder of our communication will be done via telephone.  Hewitt Veterinary Hospital has added 16 outgoing telephone lines to accommodate this.

6.       We will gather some more information from you over the phone (pet history/symptoms/etc.). When we are ready, we will have you exit your vehicle with your pet and go to the covered front porch. We will meet you there (with minimal contact) and then escort your pet from your car to an exam room or treatment for immediate care.

7.       We will communicate with you throughout this process via phone.

8.       When the visit is complete, we will communicate with you again, escort your pet back to reunite with you, and complete the check out procedure with you over the phone or at your vehicle.

We are anticipating longer than expected wait times. If you are unable to wait a bit longer, please contact us to reschedule. We cannot guarantee availability of open appointment times for several weeks potentially if you choose to reschedule.

You will not have access to public restroom facilities, so please plan accordingly.

Our staff will remain at a distance when conversing with you in-person, and we ask that you minimize conversation during transfer of your pet to our staff member.

ALL CATS MUST BE IN CARRIERS. ALL DOGS MUST BE ON A SECURE LEASH.

We will temporarily be activating an automated phone menu to handle increased call volume. Voicemail will also be activated and we will check this very often during business hours. (see previous news post).

No clients, non-essential contractors or deliverymen, or others will be permitted in the building without authorization so that we can maintain a high level of safety.

Clients whose pet will undergo euthanasia may be permitted to enter the facility if they are not feeling sick or exhibiting other signs of illness.  At our discretion we may limit client access.

Extra precautions we are anticipating in the near future include:

1.       Installing .1 micron HEPA filters in work/exam/treatment areas to filter air and reduce risk of airborne transmission amongst staff and as a result of aerosol producing medical procedures

2.      Personal protective equipment – (respirators, safety glasses/goggles, disposable gowns)

We believe that small changes can have a large impact if initiated early enough and hope that by taking these precautions now we can aid our community in the weeks to come by lessening the extent of the transmission of this virus and spread of disease and ultimately reaching our goal of keeping everyone in our community happy and healthy, including our beloved pets.  We are so glad to have you as part of our family!

For further information on Texas State Resources and Response to COVID-19, visit https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus