One recurring headline over this past year has been the challenges of getting into veterinary offices for appointments. Many veterinary clinics are quoting 2-3 weeks before normal appointments are available and emergency rooms are routinely seeing 6,8 or even 12-hour wait times. Tom Dock of Noah’s Animal Hospitals joined us today to explain what happened to increase these wait times and the best way you can deal with them. Here’s more from him:
Historically, getting into your veterinary office for an appointment was easy. Most clinics could see you within 24 – 72 hours or they might even be able to “work you in” that day. Since the pandemic began, this quick availability seemed to disappear.
At the beginning of the pandemic, veterinarians were asked to conserve personal protective equipment (PPE) and most areas instituted stay at home orders, so routine, preventive care was not scheduled. This caused a back up that was compounded by some veterinary offices closing or restricting hours.
These longer wait times for an appointment started driving some pet owners to the emergency clinics, similar to situations in human medicine where individuals without primary care physicians seek care for routine issues at human emergency rooms. Now, instead of 4-5 cases a day on emergency, most animal ERs are looking at 20-30 per day! And, this has gone on non-stop for 16 months all across the US.
One local emergency hospital reported seeing 825 emergency cases during June 2021 alone…that’s 27 emergencies per day! It’s also a 13% increase over June 2020. Experts state that pet adoptions increased by more than 15% during the pandemic, adding millions of pets to households across the nation.
Finally, inefficiencies with carside appointments, a labor shortage, and a big increase in the number of pets needing to be seen has led to a backlog and frustrations for pet owners. Threats of violence, damage to property, and even an increase in calls to local law enforcement have been seen. Some clients have tried to force their way past veterinary employees, some have brought weapons to the clinic, others have threatened staff with bodily harm.
As cities and states “open up” and remove mask mandates, many veterinary offices have been slow to open their doors for a wide variety of reasons. First, in some cases, there may not be enough staff to handle the caseload. Stats from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) show that there are 14 job postings for every single veterinarian applicant!
While numbers aren’t readily available, there is an extreme shortage of veterinary technicians and trained veterinary assistants as well. Many of these individuals are also very young (20-30 years of age) and may not have jumped on the vaccine bandwagon. This has led to some reluctance to allow unfettered access to the clinic where people are necessarily in close proximity during the visit.
The bottom line in all of this is that there is a need for patience when you visit your local veterinary office. The team wants to be there for you and your pets, but they don’t deserve verbal harassment or threats of violence.
Be prepared to be flexible with your pet’s needed care…ask about drop off appointments or a virtual appointment via video conferencing. Some veterinary offices will save 2-4 appointment slots as “same day” appointments, but you will need to call early!
If you don’t need to go to the animal ER, don’t. Emergency rooms will triage incoming patients and even if you have been there for an hour, someone with a more urgent case (respiratory distress, hemorrhage, urinary blockage, or toxin exposure) may jump the line ahead of you.
Try to think ahead for your pet’s medication and therapeutic diet needs. As one example, a local clinic handled more than a dozen phone calls on July 3rd for anti-anxiety medications. They actually ran out of one type of medication!
Your veterinarian and his/her team are ready, willing, and more than able to help you and your pets…just remember to give them a little patience and bring good energy to your pet’s visit with his/her doctor!
For more information visit, NoahsHospitals.com.
Camping has grown steadily for the past decade, and even surged last year due to the pandemic.
Toby O’Rourke, president and CEO of Kampgrounds of America joined us today to discuss the outdoor activity’s popularity.
For more information visit, KOA.com.
If you’re considering some upcoming travel, we want to be the ones to get you fully prepared! Today we were joined by Katie Awwad, travel agent with Magnified Vacation Cruiseone. She planned Annessa’s family vacation from start to finish, and knows tons of travel secrets! Here are a few from her:
1) Have a plan even more now!
Know the restrictions of the area you are traveling to. Find out what is open. What is needed for you to get there? Do you need a covid test prior? Do you get covid tested to travel back home?Testing is huge for oversea travel.There are some all inclusive resorts that are offering free testing prior to leaving. That is super helpful because if not then you need to find a place in a foreign land!
Even if driving you need to know what each state restrictions are. Traveling with kids you have to know when you can stop and let them go the bathroom!
If you are doing Disney then know everything that is needed. Park reservations are a must! This is why you need an agent! They will help you!
2) Book early!
Because of restrictions on hotels ( cheaper hotels at disney or the ones that sleep 5), park attendance ( hint Epcot and Animal Kingdom are only park open for spring break now) and restrictions on accommodations ( Disney Dinning) you need to book early. Slim chance if you can make a last minute trip work especially for Disney. There are so many moving parts and limited capacity. Once things are filled up then you have missed out. People are eager to start traveling so things are booking up faster than normal. Private condos or cabins are really selling out fast.
3) BUY travel protection!
I can not guarantee that whatever happens will be covered but having protection is worth it. These trips are an investment. You need to protect that and the what ifs. I am now requiring my clients that cruise and do international travel to buy protection. We learned the hard way in 2020.
4) Be flexible!
There are so many things that are unpredictable. Booking a trip plan on changes. Plan on following all the rules at the given location. Those restrictions will change! Plan to look at restrictions a week before your travel again! Things will change! Plan on wearing a mask. Plan on time changes on flights. Plan on not waking up in time for that first bus at Disney making you later to start you day.
For more information visit, facebook.com/MagnifiedVacationsCruiseOne.
News 8’s medical reporter, Dr. Mary Gillis, talks about how we can use trauma as a fuel to thrive. She spoke with Dr. Randall Bell, author of a new book: Post-Traumatic Thriving: The Art, Science & Stories Behind Resilience.
Known as the ‘Master of Disaster’ Dr. Bell has consulted in more tragedies around the world than anyone including the World Trade Center, Sandy Hook and Hurricane Katrina to name a few. In his book, Bell lets readers in on 5 key patterns he sees in people who’ve overcome trauma and thrived as a result of it.
Find more medical news, at Wishtv.com/medical and Facebook.com/DrMaryGillis.
Plasma donation is important to medical research now more than ever to help with potentially treating COVID-19. One company leading the way is Grifols. Vlasta Hakes, director of corporate affairs at Grifols joined us today. Here’s more from her:
Plasma donation is a painless procedure that thousands of people do each day. It is a great way to take a break in the middle of the day while helping others!
All donors receive a thorough health screening at each donation. Once they are screened then they undergo the plasmapheresis process which is where a machine draws the donor’s blood, the plasma is separated from the blood, and the red blood cells are returned.
Since plasma is mostly water plus therapeutic proteins and antibodies, the body quickly regenerates the plasma so a donor can give up to twice a week with a full day between donations.
This is important because we need lots of donations. It takes anywhere for 130 to 1300 donations to make enough medicine to treat just one patient for one year.
So are asking that people take the time to become regular donors.
We recommend that donors eat a healthy meal, drink plenty of fluids, and get a good night of sleep prior to coming in to donate plasma. Once at the center, they can relax, check their phone or catch up on their latest tv show!
The safety of our donors and employees is Grifols number one priority. Grifols has implemented protocols as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prevent the spread of COVID-19:
- We are practicing physical distancing throughout the facility by maximizing floor space to seat donors apart
- We have put up extra plexiglass barriers
- We have enhanced existing cleaning protocols and provide personal protective equipment for employees
- We are requiring everyone to please wear face-covings when inside the center
- We take employee and donor temperatures at the door
- We strongly encourage anyone who doesn’t feel well to please stay home.
- We have a full list of all of our safety protocols on our website www.grifolsplasma.com
What is Grifols doing to help fight COVID-19?
The plasma of those who have recovered from COVID-19 contain antibodies to the disease and we believe that it can potentially help treat those who currently have or in the future might get COVID-19.
Grifols has acted with urgency during this global crisis by collecting plasma from those who have recovered from COVID-19 at our donor centers across the United States. We want to harness and concentrate these antibodies that are in their plasma to produce a medicine that could potentially treat the disease. We believe, that this medicine, a hyperimmune globulin therapy, can offer predictable and consistent dosing of the antibody against the virus that causes COVID-19. It will also bridge the time while we wait for a vaccine and can also be used alongside a vaccine once there is one. Patients are currently receiving this medicine as part of a clinical trial that we are doing in partnership with the National Institutes of Health and hope to have results soon.
Plasma donation is now important more than ever, whether it is for the medicines already made out of plasma or for potentially treating COVID-19. Donating plasma at one of Grifols’ donor centers is a way people can help make a difference during this exceptional time. We encourage everyone to consider becoming a plasma donor and give some of their plasma to make other lives brighter.
To learn more, visit www.grifols.com and grifolsplasma.com.
THIS SEGMENT IS SPONSORED BY GRIFOLS.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Hoosiers who are looking to buy or sell their houses are not alone. Realtors said the housing market is hot right now in Indiana and some houses are selling within hours.
They are calling the buyers market a pandemic-induced perfect storm, with low-interest rates, a low supply of houses in Indiana and a lot of people who are stuck at home, looking for their next perfect house.
The “for sale” and “sold” signs around the state are a sign of the times.
“Going from two bedrooms and one bathroom to five and three bathrooms is a huge change,” said Trent Van Emon. “We are very happy that we were able to make this move.”
It’s a move people like Van Emon are taking advantage of. With the pandemic, he’s been working from home and his fiance, who is an overnight shift nurse, sleeps during the day. So, their small house in Broad Ripple wasn’t cutting it.
While they weren’t planning to move, the pandemic canceled their wedding and changed their housing needs. So, they were able to sell their house at a higher price and take advantage of low-interest rates when buying an even bigger and newer home.
“If you’re not working in an office and you’re working from home, you have to have your own space or everyone starts to go a little crazy if you’re just on top of each other,” said Van Emon.
Christie Snapp is a realtor with Re/Max’s Indy Scene Team and said more people are looking for homes with offices, extra living space, and outdoor amenities.
“Houses are selling sometimes within hours,” said Snapp.
However, the home demand in Indiana is outweighing the supply.
“We have .9 months worth of inventory right now. Meaning if nobody else listed their home right now, we would run out of inventory in less than a month. So that’s insane,” said Snapp.
A seller’s market is when there is less than six months worth of inventory and a buyer’s market is when there are more than six months worth of inventory. However, inventory isn’t the only component.
Add in the record low-interest rates that were sparked by the health crisis and there is a perfect housing storm.
“Sort of a perfect storm of a lot of buyers, low inventory,” said Snapp.
Realtors said there are now more renters wanting to buy homes. More buyers getting a bigger house for a lower mortgage and more or current homeowners refinancing to save money and then staying put.
Jason Kraus is a broker at Re/Max Advanced Realty and said this is an all-time seller’s market. Meaning buyers have to move fast.
“Not only do you need to be able to put forward a strong offer, but you need to be pre-approved and ready to buy and you have to move quickly. Because you know a lot of homes are staying on the market for days and even hours at some point,” said Kraus.
A word of caution though. Relators said this market could change next year when the Cares Act mortgage forbearance ends.
“They are going to have three or four months of mortgage payments to pay immediately,” said Snapp. “So, a lot of those people are not going to be able to do that and that may result in having to foreclose.”
“We may see an uptick in foreclosures and or people needing to move. Not only needing to sell because it’s a great market but selling because financially that has become an immediate need,” said Kraus.
While the pandemic means a lot of unknowns for the future, Van Emon said looking for the silver lining can go a long way.
“You have to figure out how to keep moving forward and make a positive out of it,” said Van Emon.