Your Visit
Although most of our care visits take place on the farm, we do provide access to inpatient and outpatient services for haul-in visits. Before we welcome you and your animal to our Large Animal Veterinary Services facility for the first time, we want to provide information, from scheduling through the time of discharge from our hospital, to give you a full overview of what you can expect from your visit.
We have also provided a short video if you’d like to experience a virtual tour of the hospital. We look forward to your visit and caring for your animal.
To schedule appointments with our farm or equine on-farm or in-hospital services, please call 937-642-2936. Our customer service team members will assist you and gather all necessary information. While it is often more efficient to have appointments scheduled in advance, we understand the fact that things happen out of our control. When possible, please call as much in advance as possible to ensure a place on the schedule. Please be aware that emergencies happen throughout the day that may cause delays in the schedule. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
If your animal(s) has been previously cared for by another farm or equine veterinarian not affiliated with our hospital, please have available a list of your animal’s medications, dosage amount, how long your horse has been taking the medications, information about prior surgeries or other treatments, and please be prepared to explain the symptoms you are noticing your animal(s) to be experiencing. It is also important to bring any copies of recent diagnostic test results from any veterinarian you may have worked with previously. If transportation personnel will be delivering your animal, please provide them with the necessary information and your contact information, including a personal phone number, so it can be shared at the time of registration.
For scheduled, non-emergent appointments, please DO NOT unload your animal until you or your transportation personnel have checked in with the registration desk. When checking in, you/your personnel will need a government issued photo ID, provide an electronic signature upon registration, and provide further clarification about your animal’s situation. If a hauler/trucker brings your animal in, they will need to sign the registration form as your agent. After unloading your animal, with the assistance of our team members, you will be directed to park your vehicle in an available parking area. In emergency or urgent care situations, we ask that you please call ahead as soon as possible, to allow our live-in senior veterinary students to contact our on-call faculty clinicians. The team will meet you to help you unload your animal and a team member will get a quick history and input about the emergency from you and get you registered.
As an academic teaching facility, wait times may be slightly longer than other veterinary care facilities. To provide the most comprehensive assessment, your animal may be examined by multiple professionals on the clinical team. After an initial evaluation, a plan will be presented to you by the lead clinician on the case, explaining recommended diagnostic testing and/ treatment options, and cost estimates before moving forward with care. Once the care plan is agreed upon, you or your agent will sign the estimate form. If your animal is being cared for on an outpatient basis, a team member will escort you or your agent to a lobby area or your/their vehicle to wait, if desired. If your horse is admitted, a team member will escort you or your agent to the registration office for the initial payment deposit, which is equal to 75% of the high end of the signed estimate, before we continue with your animal’s care.
When your animal is ready to be discharged, you or your agent will be notified by a Large Animal Services team member. If your animal was seen as an outpatient, you or your agent will be asked to pay for all services rendered at the time of discharge. If your animal was hospitalized, any balance due from the initial estimate will be collected from you or your agent at discharge. Payments may be made by cash, check or credit card 9Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover). We also accept Care Credit [link to apply provided in Additional Resources section below).
Whether your animal was an inpatient or outpatient visit, a clinical team member who cared for them, will meet with you to discuss the details of the visit, answer questions and review discharge and after-care instructions with you or your agent before your animal is returned to you/your transport personnel. Team members are available to assist with loading your animal onto the trailer.