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How a Shortage of Veterinarians in the U.S. is Impacting CNY How a Shortage of Veterinarians in the U.S. is Impacting CNY

By Alaina Losito

ALAINA LOSITO: Animal hospitals across America are struggling with a shortage of veterinarians. For a local veterinary hospital like VCA’s Fairmount Animal Hospital, this shortage has affected business. Hospital Manager, Sean Orcutt says this is a local problem and caused them to shut down their after-hour urgent care business.

SEAN ORCUTT: It’s really a struggle right now, particularly in the Central New York area. If you go to some of the larger metropolitan areas there’s more resources. There also is a shortage of veterinary technicians and the technician role is an extremely important process of the hospital, of having a successful hospital. Basically they’re the registered nurses of the animal world.

LOSITO: Veterinarian Dr. Daisy Friedman says there was a large increase in pet adoption once the pandemic hit. She says the same number of vets are graduating from vet school but there are not enough to accommodate the growing number of pets.

DAISY FRIEDMAN: I think that there’s a statistic out there that says that approximately 15-hundred to two-thousand animals are under the responsibility of one veterinarian. That’s a big responsibility for us for sure. When I graduated it was very easy for me to get a job. Most likely because of the shortage.

LOSITO: This shortage has caused many veterinarians to have very busy schedules. Dr. Friedman says that scheduling your pet’s wellness exam six months in advance can be the best way of getting your furry friend in.

FRIEDMAN: We want to do the best we can to see as many pets as possible but because there is a shortage and because there’s so much need sometimes what that means is it’s harder to get an appointment, harder to be seen.

LOSITO: This hospital has started reaching out and recruiting people earlier in their careers to hopefully plant the seed and hire them once they graduate vet school. Alaina Losito … NCC News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Veterinary hospitals across America are struggling to find enough veterinarians to accommodate the number of pets in need of health care. This has started to affect local animal hospitals in Syracuse. 

Sean Orcutt, a manager for VCA’s Fairmount Animal Hospital in Syracuse said that this shortage is a local problem and has been going on since right before the pandemic.

“It’s really a struggle right now, particularly in the Central New York area. If you go to some of the larger metropolitan areas there’s more resources,” said Orcutt. “Really the applicant pool is somewhat limited in this area right now.

According to the ASPCA, during the pandemic the number of pets adopted increased dramatically. It said that one in five households adopted a cat or dog during the pandemic and those same pets are said to still be in those same homes.

Dr. Daisy Friedman, an associate veterinarian at VCA’s Fairmount Animal Hospital said that the increase in pet adoption in the pandemic contributed to the shortage.

“A lot of families acquired new pets during the pandemic but we still have the same number of veterinary students graduating from college,” said Friedman. “I think there’s a statistic out there that says that approximately 1,500 to 2,000 animals are under the responsibility of one veterinarian. So it’s a big responsibility for us.”

Friedman said that there is also a need for more accredited veterinary schools in the country. The application is very rigorous but all seats usually get filled. So, having more schools across the country can help produce more veterinarians and combat this shortage.

This shortage has also caused veterinarians to have busy schedules and clients are now having a harder time getting their pets in for appointments. Friedman said that since it is harder to be seen, veterinarians have started using other forms of medicine, like telehealth, to help see more patients.

“I think that it’s important for the community to understand that we’re working as hard as we can in this field to accommodate all of the pets that need care,” said Friedman. “And we want to do the best we can to see as many pets as possible.”

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