Mission Statement
Our goal is to surpass your expectations by delivering consistent quality care of your pet and maintaining standards of excellence, while meeting your needs as they relate to the delivery of small animal veterinary medicine. We embrace the power of the human/animal bond by bridging technology with compassion and upholding our Veterinarian’s Oath.
Accreditation
We are a fully accredited small animal hospital meeting all of the requirements of our provincial licensing body (College of Veterinarians of Ontario – CVO) and voluntarily fulfilling those of an independent international review body (American Animal Hospital Association – AAHA). These standards cover nearly every aspect of our hospital, including surgery, pharmacy, laboratory, exam facilities, pet health records, cleanliness, emergency services, dental and nursing care, diagnostic imaging, anesthesiology, and patient care and safety. Only a small percentage of veterinary hospitals in Canada and USA meet the standards necessary to be accredited by the AAHA. The AAHA is recognized around the world as the benchmark for quality care in veterinary medicine. The overall objective ensures that our practice meets stringent guidelines to protect you and your pets. Routine on-site inspections by these bodies (CVO and AAHA) ensure that our facility and staff meet or surpass specific standards of care using the latest procedures and technology.
Hospital
The original property dates back to the early 40’s and has been the site of various services ranging from Consumer’s Gas headquarters and maintenance depot to the local health department. Dr. Douglas Waines established Borderview Veterinary Hospital in the spring of 1977 as the solo practitioner. The practice grew over the past 40+ years, adding veterinarians and staff along the way. Dr. Johnathan McTaggart came on board in 2004, and purchased the practice when Dr Waines retired in 2012. Dr. McTaggart’s team now consists of 4 veterinarians and 9 support staff, consisting of registered veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants, a client service representative, a bookkeeper and an office manager, all working together for the health and wellness of our canine & feline patients!
Who are we? The hospital staff currently includes 4 veterinarians and a compliment of mature and highly trained support staff. Virtually the entire staff- receptionists, technicians, animal care assistants and veterinarians, are enrolled in continuing medical education programs year-round. This continuously builds upon a solid foundation of knowledge and experience.
What are we? We are a mature practice operating under original management since 1977. An excess of 4000 sq feet floor space provides ample room to meet our needs. The hospital has seen 3 renovations/add-ons; the last one being a roof raising experience in 1991!
How do we think? Our hospital philosophy is actually quite simple and is based on the premise that we treat all pets as if they were our own. We respect every case as an opportunity to share time with a special member of your family and further understand the positive impact they have on our lives. To this end, we operate as a cohesive team of professional animal health care providers. We are a “chatty group”, in a constant dynamic state of communications sharing each other’s views and perspectives of cases. Internal second and third opinions occur among us on a daily basis.
What do we do? We provide a wide variety of small animal medical and surgical services to a client base serving the Greater Fort Erie area, Niagara Peninsula and Western New York.
Continuing Education
It is an accepted fact that medical knowledge doubles approximately once every four years; therefore, “if you snooze, you lose” has real meaning. Today it is not enough to rest on the past. Keeping up is critical in any profession. Learning new concepts and challenging traditional thinking means we strive to get better as we get older. We embrace this concept and have a long history of staff members attending continuing education programs throughout the year annually.
All veterinarians attend 9 half-day lectures per year through the Buffalo Academy of Veterinary Medicine. Lecturers come from major university centers throughout US and Canada. A parallel C/E program is attended by 6 of our support staff at Medaille College, Buffalo, NY.
We are active in our local veterinary group (Niagara Veterinary Medical Association), supporting local and regional speakers on a regular basis. We also maintain voluntary memberships in provincial (OVMA-Ontario Veterinary Medical Association), national (CVMA-Canadian Veterinary Medical Association), and international veterinary associations (AAHA-American Animal Hospital Association).
Maintaining current veterinary medical journals, access to on-line resources and continuing education opportunities enhance our team’s approach for further knowledge. Substantial financial effort and time away from clinical practice is dedicated to broadening and deepening our understanding of the various aspects of veterinary medicine. Not surprisingly, this evolving level of knowledge actually strengthens our enthusiasm to do our job the best we can.
Payment Policy
We believe a healthy practice must be a financially sound practice- in order to attract and retain highly skilled personnel and to continuously upgrade equipment and procedures for the welfare of our patients and satisfaction of their guardians. We are proud of maintaining a high staff retention rate. Many of our staff have been here 10 years or more, with several staff with 25+ years of seniority!
We only accept the following forms of payment: VISA, MasterCard, Debit Card, or Cash. It is with regret that we cannot allow charging anymore. Previous abuse has forced us to adopt this strict policy. Charging (financial lending) distracts our ability to focus our concentration on providing thorough veterinary medical and surgical services.