Jan Resit isn’t sure how many times she had to bring her dog, Annie, to the Sugar River Animal Hospital in Grantham this year.
“I know it was a lot,” Reist said. “She had a messed up stomach and had to have her gall bladder out and all kinds of stuff.”
It was a long year for Annie, a 12-year-old rescue, like 2020 was for so many. But she’s healthy and doing well now, “all because of Sugar River and how wonderful they are,” Reist said. That’s why Reist nominated the whole staff to be Hometown Heroes – veterinarians Dr. Catherine MacLean (who is also the owner), Dr. Kate Connor and Dr. Andrea Brown; certified vet technicians Sara Dily, Kate DelGrosso, Jennie Morey, Samantha Griswold, Lexie Keane, Melissa Hannon and Kelsy Jenkins; office manager Paula Paula Gallien and client service representative Sherri Champney.
Like other clinics, Sugar River has been especially busy this year as people are spending more time with their pets, and adding more pets to their family, during the pandemic.
“We’re much busier now than we were before, and I hear that from other vet clinics, we’re not the only one,” said MacLean, who opened Sugar River in 2013. “At first I thought it was the stimulus money, but that’s long dried up. I think a lot of it is people are sitting home with their pets now and so things that didn’t notice or used to ignore are more in their face.”
When the COVID-19 crisis took hold in New Hampshire, Sugar River went to curbside care. Animals were allowed inside the building, but the owners had to stay in the car and the veterinarians, technicians and support staff would talk with them over the phone before and after the visit to gather information, answer questions and make recommendations. But that level of service wasn’t feeling quite good enough to MacLean and her staff.
“A lot of us thrive on the interaction with the clients, so we decided to do more,” MacLean said. “We’re still curbside, but the technicians go out and do the history at the car, then they’ll bring the pet in and I exam it, and then I actually go out and talk to them, wearing a mask and staying six feet apart and all that good stuff.”
She expects that kind of service to continue through the winter, which is why she just bought her staff winter jackets with the Sugar River logo as Christmas presents. For pets that have needed extra care, like Annie, MacLean and her staff have been willing to go the extra mile.
“After Annie had her gall bladder out at (a veterinary hospital in Portsmouth) she came home with like three pages worth of oral medication that was just too much for any owner, so Jan brought her in every day and we did all her medication for her,” MacLean said. “But we try to do stuff like that whether it’s COVID or not, we always strive to give that personalized care.”
Those efforts have certainly been appreciated.
“They would come out to the curbside in the pouring rain with their umbrella and answer all of your questions for as long as you want,” Reist said.
“And everybody I know that goes there has nothing but great praise for them. They all agree with me and think that Sugar River is just wonderful because they do have such a personal relationship with the owners and the animals.”