Gypsum Animal Hospital Holiday Newsletter 2011

Happy Holidays everyone!  Besides it being cold out, this is definitely a favorite time of the year.  We hope this letter and photo finds you and your pets happy and healthy and enjoying some time with each other and the rest of your family and friends.  Having family/friends, loved ones, and pets is the key to a happy, healthy, enriched life!

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all well, and to let you know what has been going on here at the hospital.  We also like to take a little time to poke fun at ourselves, what can I say?, it’s a tradition. 

2011 was a good year for us; we continue to get bigger and establish our reputation as one of the top notch veterinary hospitals in the Vail Valley (is that what we are calling this area now?  Or has the county ‘voted’ a different name?).  However, our goal always has been and always will continue to be a small, local animal hospital.  If you ever feel we are heading in a different direction you have our approval to call us out on it and shake us back in line.  We are here for you; we hope you know that.

There are a few new things going on we’d like to bring you up-to-date on.  First off we have re-vamped the website, www.gypsumah.com.  As a client of ours you can now log in directly to your files and see your pets medical information.  The new site also allows you to make medication refill requests, book appointments and has a full library for pet medical information.  OK, enuf about the site, I’m sure you have all been bombarded with the e-mails etc.  The second new thing is we have a charity partner to promote goodness in the human-animal bond.  Second Chance with Saving Grace is the charity founded by Dr. Diane Dike; her story is a remarkable one as is her relationship with her service dog, Grace, who is now one of our patients. Check it out http://www.dianedike.com/.  We will host a fundraiser in February along with our client appreciation day which will include pet portraits taken at our hospital by Michael Rawlings.  He’s awesome, he made Dr. S’s family look like movie stars.  Look for info.

OK, on to the good stuff….clinic gossip.

Unlike what has happened 5 times in the past few years, Dr. Steve did NOT have any children this year.  Unless a medical miracle happens, five will have to be enough for the man.  He visited his daughter, Jeri, in Tulane for parents’ weekend and was dubbed a ‘cool’ dad by the Tulane Student Body and authored an article for the school paper on How to Raise a Dog in College; it also just ran in the Vail Daily.  He also has 2 students at Eagle Valley High, a senior, Lane, and a freshman, Joe.  He and his wife Roni, spend most of their spare time riding bikes, camping, staying in shape, doing laundry, walking with their dogs and raising their toddlers, Iris, 3 and Henry, 1 ½.  

Jenne also has a high school student, Skyler, at Red Canyon HS  and a college sophomore Syd, at CU Denver (we tell you all this so you will have pity on us).  She also has a toddler, Sierra and a husband Ben (again, we tell you all this so you will have pity on us).  I’m beginning to see a pattern here.  Last year, Jenne got to know the human medical profession inside and out; this year she is getting an education into the legal system; thankfully it is not the criminal legal system….but if you need info on family law she can advise!  Jenne’s dog Bosko recently had an ulcer in his eye; I’m not sure why that is in here but I need filler.  Of course, due to good doctoring, he is getting better.

Jessica started out here 3 years ago.  For the first time since she started, a long time Gypsum local came in and I asked Jessica “who is that?” AND Jessica replied. “I DON”T KNOW”.  That was just a joke, Jessica and her family know everyone in town.  Jessica’s pride is her truck and her nails.  She had some truck problems this year but thankfully, her nails have had a great year…seriously, all the girls here are jealous.  I’m almost jealous myself.

We hired a new technician this year, Melanie, who moved here from Alabama with her husband, an Iraqi war veteran and now an air traffic controller, and her lime green Mustang!  Its great having an ‘in’ at the airport, over Thanksgiving I knew before anyone else our flight was cancelled due to snow.  Yippee.  Mel is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan so feel free to stop by and harass her anytime.  I hope the Broncos meet the Steelers in the playoffs this year so we can bet; it sure would be nice to have my coffee waiting for me every morning!   Mel truly is an animal lover and is working with Second Chance in their animal rescue department.  Mel has too many pets to list here.

Lastly, we wanted to take time to thank you all for your support.  The last few years have been tough on all of us in this community but hopefully, better economic times await us all.  Like we mentioned above, we hope you find us to be a valuable resource for you and your pets.  If there is anything we can do for you and your pets don’t hesitate to ask.  Your feedback and input are very important to us.  We also want to thank you for sending in all your friends; the referrals we get are such a nice compliment it makes us blush, really!

We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays…whatever you may celebrate, and a prosperous New Year,

Dr. Steve, Roni, Jenne, Jessica, Melanie, Jeri and Albert the Cat