The management is clueless. They often work from home and leave their employees on the hook for finding their own coverage in the event of a call-out or an unexpected surge in patients.
The turnover is unbelievable, mostly due to the fact that there was no actual training structure. One would think from a “teaching hospital” as well known and revered as Dove Lewis, they would have new employee onboarding and integration down to a science. Fresh employees are regularly thrown to the wolves and given little guidance except when there’s an incident, to which you can expect an email or a text stating “they’ve received some feedback about a situation that they would like to talk to you about”.
The hiring process will take about a month, if you’re lucky. If not, expect to go through several redundant interviews with various individuals who ask generic questions or have no idea what they’re actually hiring for, followed by long periods of silence. Multiple prospective candidates decided on other opportunities due to the lack of follow through from the hiring team.
The CEO and higher management are playing a numbers game, and will constantly cite the need to see more patients to increase revenue, all while bringing up the fact that a majority of the “non-critical” patients were turned away, and how they can capitalize on this missed opportunity, all while failing to provide any real incentive for employees who are consistently working over 50 hours a week, and rather appealing to their desire to “help the pets”.
The reality of the situation is far more dire than you would think: at any point of the day on any given day, there are pets who are waiting at Dove Lewis, either with their owners or in kennels in auxiliary holding wards, for over 48 hours. There have been multiple instances of patients dying in their cages, whether due to stress, neglect, or a medical condition that isn’t immediately apparent. There are simply too few available hands, whether it be doctors, technicians, or kennel assistants, to properly handle that kind of patient load.
Dove Lewis is happy to remain open and available to every pet that is having some kind of emergency, while this is all happening behind the scenes, leaning into their motto “Always Here, Always Open”.
I would not recommend working for this company, unless you are significantly advanced in your veterinary career and can land a position in a specialty department. The ER is constantly overworked and understaffed, and the ICU cannot provide the intensive care that one would come to expect from the prestigious Dove Lewis.