Business Spotlight: Local Clinic the cat's meow in emergency situations

Andrea McClanahan knew something was terribly wrong when she saw her cat, Oreo, limping. Somehow Oreo had managed to worm her way into a closet where some fishing tackle was stored, and now she had a fishing lure embedded in her paw.

It was Sunday night, Oreo was in pain, and McClanahan knew she couldn't wait until Monday morning to take her cat to the vet.

McClanahan is just one of many local pet owners who have received urgent care for their pet at the Emergency Veterinary Clinic of Southwest Missouri. Unlike the typical veterinary clinic, which is open during the day and provides routine services, the Emergency Veterinary Clinic specializes in emergency medicine for small animals and is open in the evenings and on the weekends.

Area veterinarians have long been faced with the conundrum of meeting the demand for emergency and after-hours care. Starting in the late 80s, a group of six local veterinarians formed a rotation to provide emergency care on weekends, each participating practice taking turns providing care, said emergency clinic board member Douglas Hardy, DVM, of James River Animal Hospital.

Then, in 1994, Michael J. Opsomer, DVM, owner of Gentle Care Animal Hospital in Nixa, spearheaded the effort to take emergency veterinary care to the next level by starting an emergency clinic.

Fielding late-night phone calls from concerned pet owners, "I was running myself ragged, and I knew I probably wasn't the only vet in the area that had this problem," Opsomer said.

"I knew starting an emergency veterinary clinic would improve the quality of my life and probably the lives of other vets here in the area. I also knew there was a need for a facility that could provide true round-the-clock service for animals who needed things like fluid therapy or urgent medical care," he added.

Opsomer began enlisting the support of other area veterinarians to see if they would be interested in starting a corporation that would oversee operations of an emergency treatment clinic for small animals.

He also enlisted the support of the Small Business Development Center at Southwest Missouri State University, which helped him develop a business plan. The SBDC surveyed veterinarians in the area about the need for an emergency veterinary clinic and helped establish income projections based on regional data.

Once the SBDC completed the survey, Opsomer invited local veterinarians from the area to attend a meeting where he presented his business plan.

The SBDC, in turn, reported the findings from the survey it had conducted independently, which indicated there was a clear need for an urgent care veterinary facility in Southwest Missouri. Opsomer also had the business manager of an emergency veterinary clinic in St. Louis attend the meeting and answer questions.

The idea was well-received. In the end, 14 veterinarians and one private investor provided the seed money to start the Emergency Veterinary Clinic of Southwest Missouri Inc. The newly formed corporation began issuing stock. Voting shares were issued to the 14 licensed Missouri veterinarians, while nonvoting shares were issued to the sole private investor.

"We more or less tried to keep everything within the veterinary community," Opsomer said. "Under state law, only licensed Missouri veterinarians can determine how the emergency clinic is run."

Forming a corporation of veterinarians also has helped improved the care given to small animals in other ways. According to Opsomer, the Emergency Veterinary Clinic contains several medical devices many veterinarians may not normally purchase for their own private practice.

The Emergency Veterinary Clinic also is one of only two clinics in Missouri that's a regional canine blood bank. The blood bank not only serves those who come to the clinic, it also provides canine blood products to veterinarians located throughout southwest Missouri.

A business manager and two full-time and three part-time veterinarians, none of whom are investors, work at the clinic. Opsomer also is looking to hire another veterinarian to help with the clinic's expanding patient load.

"Our original business projections had the clinic seeing three patients a night," said Opsomer. "Currently, the clinic sees eight to 10 patients a night and another 20 to 50 on the weekend."

Recently, 600 square feet were added to the Emergency Veterinary Clinic. The space was used to house additional examining room tables and a dog run that could accommodate large canines.

The clinic also installed a computer system, which will allow the staff to keep a complete medical history on any animal seen at the clinic.

The Emergency Veterinary Clinic's hours of operations are 6 p.m.- 8 a.m. Monday through Friday and 6 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Monday. Visits run $45, and payment is required at the time of service.