Up to date modern facility. We are undergoing a remodeling process on the building for the next few months. We have 2 surgery suites, 4 exam rooms, hospitalization area, isolation ward, a full service kennel and boarding facility, groom room, and roomy back yard for walking dogs.

Bruce S. Poland, DVM, founded Walkertown Veterinary Hospital in 1982. Dr. Poland continues to be the hospital's sole owner, and two full-time associate veterinarians now join him: Dr. Cheryl Scott has been with the practice for 8 years and Dr. Jesscia Fellers is due to join us in August of 2006. Dr. Poland employs a support staff of approximately 20 receptionists, veterinary assistants, groomer and kennel assistants.

Services are provided to clients in Walkertown and the surrounding area including Winston-Salem, Kernersville, Walnut Cove, Rural Hall and King. The majority of the hospital's patients are dogs and cats. The hospital also sees exotic patients including but not limited to: birds, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, hedgehogs and reptiles.

The hospital, now entirely devoted to veterinary services, once housed a pharmacy, a doctor's office, a dentist's office and a hair salon. Today, it includes two large kennel areas, a laboratory, a pharmacy, four examination rooms, a surgery suite, pre-operative area , grooming room and an X-ray room.

These facilities allow the hospital to provide a myriad of veterinary services including routine and advanced laboratory and radiographic diagnostics, soft-tissue and orthopedic surgery, endoscopy, dentistry, electrocardiography, hospitalization, vaccinations and other well-pet veterinary services. Further, the hospital offers boarding and grooming services.

Fees

In order to continue to provide high quality patient care and customer service, we must place the financial responsibility for veterinary care on the patient's owner. Payment is expected at time of service. For animals that are hospitalized, payment must be received prior to discharge. For some procedures, we may require a deposit.

We are happy to provide written estimates for all procedures and treatments.

We accept cash, check, VISA, Mastercard, Discover, American Express and CareCredit. All checks must be verified by CheckCare and be accompanied by a driver's license number and two telephone numbers. CareCredit is similar to a credit card. If approved, CareCredit would pay your veterinary bill, and you would pay them back in monthly installments. In our office, it takes approximately 10 minutes to complete the application process and a decision is available immediately. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and have a driver's license with a current home address.

Admissions

There are four general categories of admissions to our hospital: surgery and/or anesthesia, boarding, grooming and other drop-offs. To better prepare you and your pet for his/her admission, we have provided procedural information for each of the four categories of admissions. As always, please do not hesitate to call if you have any questions or concerns. We are here to help you take great care of your pet!

 

Surgery and/or Anesthesia Admissions

Pre-Operative Instructions: Any dog or cat that is to be placed under heavy sedation or general anesthesia should not eat or drink after 10:00 P.M. the evening before. In the case of outdoor and free-roaming animals, this means that you will need to cage the animal overnight to eliminate access to water and food. Rabbits should continue to eat and drink normally up until admission. Pre-operative instructions for very young pets (less than 3 months) may be modified by the doctor who schedules the procedure. If you have any questions or concerns about your role before surgery, please contact us at 595-3090.

Hours: Patients are admitted for surgery between 7:30 am and 9:00 am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We do not perform routine surgery on Wednesday and Saturday since we have abbreviated office hours on those days. To best serve the interests of our patients, we must schedule surgical appointments in advance. We can generally schedule a routine surgery appointment (spay, neuter, declaw, dentistry) within a week of your call.

Client Procedures: When you arrive with your pet, one of our receptionists or veterinary assistants will assist you in filling out the paper work that we are required to complete. You will be asked a few short questions about your pet's recent health and allergies. You will also be asked about other procedures that you would like performed while your pet is with us. For routine procedures, this is a good time to do trim nails, update vaccinations, implant microchips, etc. We will also ask you to authorize required safety procedures and those optional safety procedures that you wish us to use. We would be happy to provide you with a written estimate of the cost of your pet's procedure. We will also ask for a telephone number so that we may be able to reach you during the day.

Required Safety Procedures: Dogs that are not on heartworm prevention and/or have not been tested for heartworms within the last two years will need to be tested prior to surgery. All dogs and cats over the age of three months that are admitted to the hospital must be vaccinated for rabies either before or during their stay.

Optional Safety Procedures: A number of optional safety procedures are available. They are listed below along with a description of those animals for whom they are recommended. In some high risk situations, the doctor may require any or all of them. If you would like to discuss the doctor's recommendations for your pet in particular, please do not hesitate to call ahead or ask when you admit your pet.