Atlantic Veterinary College Teaching Hospital no longer offering overnight emergency coverage

Changes to P.E.I. vet emergency services The Atlantic Veterinary College in P.E.I. is cutting back its emergency services to due staff shortages. CTV's Jack Morse reports.

The largest animal hospital on Prince Edward Island will no longer be offering overnight emergency coverage for other small clinics on the island.

The Atlantic Veterinary College Teaching Hospital will now only offer emergency coverage between the hours of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Officials say even those hours cannot be guaranteed, due to illness, leave, or caseload.

STAFFING SHORTAGES

Margaret Brown-Bury, Newfoundland and Labrador representative for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Council, says staffing shortages are an industry wide issue.

“The demand for service, the amount of services being provided, has increased,” says Brown-Bury. “And the number of veterinarians available to provide these services has not kept up with that pace.”

Brown-Bury says the increase in demand is due to the shift of how people think of their pets – with owners now treating their animals as part of the family.

As a result, smaller issues that would have a ‘wait and see’ approach 30 years ago are now being brought to the vet right away, leading to increased demand in the industry.

INCREASE IN DEMAND AND BURNOUT

Jeff Goodall, a veterinarian in Halifax, says the growing demand for veterinarian services has led to staffing shortages and increased burnout.

“I’ve been blessed with having moments of depression and ill health due to stress,” says Goodall. “You get over it, but sometimes some of us can’t.”

Brown-Bur says emergency veterinary medicine has been hit particularly hard, especially after the pandemic limited regular clinics.

Throughout the pandemic emergency clinics had to step-up, and which she says put even more stress on a field that’s already hard to recruit for.

“Part of the reason I left the emergency clinic, wasn’t because I don’t like emergency medicine, but we were so short staffed that it was becoming incredibly difficult,” says Brown-Bury. “On my days off I was just in recovery mode, and by the time I recovered, it was back to work.”

Brown-Bury says the lifestyle that comes with emergency medicine can be hard to maintain, which is why the specialization may not be for everyone. She adds she is not surprised to see the college take this kind of action.

In the meantime, Maritime pet owners have one less option to get care to their animals overnight.