Employee of the Month for February

Our Employee of the Month for February is Robin. This month, she has been particularly  helpful as both a Dr. Assistant and Concierge.  She is a real team player and she has been very flexible filling in for ill staff or staying late to finish up work end of the day.  She continues to shine as a DA and can often be found as the Concierge when she is not in the exam rooms. Wherever she is, she is focused on getting things done so the doctors stay on time and clients get responses in a timely manner. The only time you may not find her is at lunchtime, when she is often in the kennel feeding and walking around with Charlotte, our African Grey Parrot.  Robin has a deep love of exotics, and lots of experience working with them, so she and Charlotte are best friends. In fact, Charlotte often perches on her shoulder late in the day while she works away answering emails and voicemails for the doctors. Whether with exotics, dogs, cats or staff, Robin is a dedicated employee and for that we celebrate her as our Employee of the Month.

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Employee of the Month for January

This month we celebrate Sebastian as our January Employee of the Month. Sebastian is one of our Nurses, but he was trained back in Ecuador as a doctor mainly working with large animals. Over the year and a half he has been with us, Sebastian has learned a lot about companion animal care and he does a great job of taking care of the hospitalized pets. On some days, he even serves as an Outpatient Technician who works with the doctors and administers fluids or vaccines or draws blood on pets needing lab work. Sebastian is wonderful about being flexible and being utilized where most needed.   Wherever you find him, you know he will be busy and focused on providing the best pet care possible. He is also always a pleasure to work with and clients especially love him for his calm and polite manner which puts them and their pet at ease.  Keep up the good work, Sebastian!

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Employee of the Month for December

This month, we  honor Sandi as our December Employee of the Month. As many of you know, Sandi works alone transforming dogs from ordinary to extraordinary. She has amazing grooming skills and her love of working with dogs of all sizes is evident in the time and care she puts into grooming each dog to look its absolute best. This month was no exception. Despite being overbooked during the Thanksgiving to end of year holiday weeks, Sandi  extended her already packed schedule  to include some weekend grooming appointments. She wanted to make sure every pet was ready for holiday photos, family gatherings and travel with their family. Her dedication to her clients, their pets and BHPH is much appreciated. We can tell by the number of wonderful reviews she gets from happy clients! For these reasons and many more, we celebrate our groomer this month. Congrats, Sandi!

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Employee of the Month for November

This month we celebrate Amanda as our November Employee of the Month. She's one of the first friendly faces clients meet and the one of the last ones clients see as they leave. Amanda's friendly demeanor and demonstrative love and handling of pets make her one of our CSR superstars.  Whether assisting clients in person or on the phone, managing appointments and reservations or even  training other CSRs, she does a good job multi-tasking and almost makes the job look easy!  In addition to working with pets here, she also has her own pet sitting service and two cats and dog at home. She is never far from a pet! Each day she gets it all done  with a smile and for that we say, "Kudos, Amanda"!

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Employee of the Month for October

This month we celebrate Kimber as our Employee of the Month for October. Kimber comes to work everyday with a positive attitude, a smile on her face and a contagious laugh. (She also sometimes comes to work with her yellow Lab, Max)  All of her attributes make her so much fun to work with wherever she is found, whether out front as a CSR or in the back as a Dr. Assistant or Concierge.  Her gentle manner and soft voice make clients feel welcome, pets cared for, and her coworkers enjoy working with her. She is also great at multi-tasking, reliable and always gets the job done. For these and many other reasons you can see why Kimber was the obvious choice. We know you will agree!

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September Employee of the Month

This month we celebrate Maya! We are very fortunate that Maya decided to join BHPH last February. In a relatively short time, she has become an integral part of the team and certainly even more so, on the team of Nurses. Maya got off to a great start working with Maribel and learning the ropes. Since Maribel's departure, she has taken on more of a leadership role thanks to her LVT skills, her organizational skills and suggestions on ways we can do things more efficiently based on her past experience at other hospitals.  Thank you, Maya, for all you do,  especially for the pets you care for. You are a valued member of the team.

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Empoyees of the Month for August

This month, we recognize our Kennel Staff for working tirelessly this summer. Ixmucane, Teddy, Chase and Elmer all did a wonderful job of keeping PL pets fed, exercised, bathed and medicated and the runs and play area clean all summer long. This was no easy feat as over the past few years, our kennel has gotten busier and busier, not just over the big holiday weekends. Despite more dogs in-house,  there were very few reported cases of sick pets or client complaints. This alone is a testament to how hard they all worked to keep all the pets healthy and safe. The Kennel staff may have a behind-the-scenes roll, but the results of their hard work are very visible. Great job, Kennel Attendants! Thank you for all of your hard work and making us all look good!

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Employee of the Month for July

Our Employee of the Month for July is Robin. Though she has been here a little less than a year, Robin has learned the role of a Dr. Assistant and has become very comfortable and confident in that position. With her experience, she is now often found teaching other staff that role. During appointments, not only is she very caring with the pets, but she is thorough on getting patient histories from clients and keeping the Doctors on track timing-wise. In addition to being a Dr. Assistant, Robin also is a wonderful resource when it come to exotics, including our African Gray Parrot, with her prior experience working with them. During lunchtime, our resident parrot, Charlotte, can usually be found perched on Robin's arm eating a special treat or two. As you can see, Robin has been a great addition to our team in many respects and for this reason, we celebrate her as our July Employee of the Month.

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Employee of the Month for June

For the month of June, we have two recipients of Employee of the Month. For June, we are celebrating Nina and Luisa. They both have a long history with BHPH and have filled many roles over the years from Client Service Representatives, Doctors Assistants, Concierges to Tech Assistants. If that wasn't enough, most recently they have taken on even bigger roles... Nina has become our Inventory Manager and Luisa our Front Office Manager. Both lead by example and the staff looks to them for guidance due to their long term experience working here. Both are dedicated, extremely hard workers, efficient and very good at what they do and this makes them our June Employee(s) of the Month. Please congratulate our "dynamic duo" as they both are most deserving of this award!

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The Potential Risks of Feeding a Grain-free Diet

Dear Valued Client, We have received many inquiries regarding the potential risks of feeding a grain-free diet. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently investigating a potential link between Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) and grain-free diets. Of the extremely large number of dogs currently on grain-free diets, only a small number (approximately 500) of DCM cases have been reported. While diet is suspected to play a role in these cases, the specific cause is still unknown. Some cases are thought to be associated with a deficiency in the amino acid Taurine, however this claim is still unsubstantiated. It is likely that these cases resulted from a predisposition to DCM, which then progressed due to other factors. As this is a fluid situation, we are continuing to consult with veterinary nutritionists and veterinary cardiologists, along with the FDA. At this time, the BHPH doctors feel that no drastic changes in diet are recommended. If concerned, a switch to a grain-based diet within your current brand of pet food is suggested. Taurine supplements can also be purchased online. 250mg per day is an appropriate dose, but this may not be necessary for your pet. If no grain-based foods within your current brand are presently available, brands that are recommended include Country Naturals, NutriSource, Natural Balance (lamb and brown rice), and Performatrin. Many brands that currently only offer grain-free diets, such as Acana and Merrick, are also monitoring the situation and will adjust their diets accordingly to likely include grain. More information can be found on the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University website, published by the board-certified veterinary nutritionist Dr. Lisa M. Freeman. As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with specific questions regarding your pet’s health. Bringing your pet in for bi-annual examinations, where we will listen for the presence of a new heart murmur and assess other risk factors for DCM, continues to be the best form of prevention. Yours Truly, The BHPH Team

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