Austin mobile vet clinic combats veterinarian shortage
AUSTIN, Texas - The nation is experiencing a veterinarian shortage, and Austin is no exception. One local veterinary clinic is taking an out-of-the-box approach to combating the issue.
The veterinary clinic is called The Vets, and they have created a mobile veterinary unit. Inside, it has pretty much everything a typical vet office has, but it is on wheels.
The mobile unit travels to make appointments in and around Austin, including Buda and Leander.
Dr. Nicole Savageau has been with The Vets for two years, but has been a veterinarian for 15 years. She says working at the mobile clinic is extremely rewarding, and adds this is a creative response to the nationwide vet shortage. By 2025, she says, it is expected there will be a 15,000 veterinarian shortage.
She says it all started during the pandemic when 23 million American households got a pet, and there were not enough new vets joining the workforce.
"Our workload just doubled, tripled. We were being double booked, triple booked, so many people wanted to be seen with their pets, and veterinarians and veterinary technicians were just getting really burnt out, so a ton of vets have left the industry altogether," she said.
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She says mobile veterinary care is making a difference by taking the office on the road.
"The clients are so grateful and appreciative," Dr. Savageau said. "It's so rare that I ever have a client not say they're so thankful. I [also] think it's a great option for a lot of vets and techs who also are feeling that burnout in the industry as well, to kind of keep us in the profession so we don't leave all together."
Appointments can be made by going to The Vets’ website.