Appointments, Work-Ins, Walk-Ins, Oh My!

What in the world do all these appointments mean?

In the world of veterinary medicine, it is very simple, these are all appointment types.  At Hill Country Animal Hospital we operate with an appointment schedule.  This means that our clients call to schedule appointments to have their pets seen by the doctors.  These are called regularly scheduled appointments.

Work-ins are appointments too

What happens when you need a same day appointment but we don’t have any?  We usually offer to see that pet on a work-in basis.  Why do we do this?  We do this because we know that your pet’s health is important to you.  We also know that your pet may be uncomfortable so we do our best to get your pet seen in between our regularly scheduled appointments.

Work-in appointments are not doled out without good reason. If your pet is not sick we probably are not going to work you into a booked schedule just for convenience.  We strive to respect our clients’ time.  We know that when you schedule an appointment you expect to be seen in a timely fashion. Squeezing in non-acute appointments only makes scheduled clients wait longer, and that is not fair.

Walk-ins are not really appointments.

We cannot guarantee that just because you are here that we will be able to see you.  A walk in is someone who has walked into the hospital with his or her pet, hoping to be seen.  We try to accommodate walk-ins if we have open appointments but again to honor scheduled appointments, walk-ins are typically only seen for emergencies.

What can you do to expedite your appointment?

• Call ahead and schedule an appointment.
• Arrive 5 minutes or so early. (10 minutes if you are a new client.)
• Have any vaccine history with you or better yet, send it in prior to your appointment.  You can email it to clientrelations@hillcountryanimalhospital.com

What about emergencies?

If you have an emergency or a sick pet, call us so we can see how we can best help you.  Sometimes this may mean a referral to an emergency clinic where your pet can receive the attention it needs.  Our doctors can manage a lot of cases but they do have a limit.  That limit allows them to provide all the cases they are working on the best care and medicine possible.  This is why sometimes we have to send you to an emergency facility.  Keep in mind also that as the day draws to a close we do not have the amount of staff here that allows us to care for regularly scheduled appointments plus emergencies.  IT’S NOT THAT WE DON’T CARE.  We do care and that is why we want your pet to have the best options available and sometimes that may not be us.

And remember, if you are the one who is waiting in the lobby behind an emergency, please be patient.  Also know that someday it may be you who is on the other side and has an emergency with your beloved pet and if so we will care for your pet as we have the one who is making you wait.  Your patience is much appreciated.

How to request or make an appointment

There are many ways to get in touch with our trained staff to make an appointment.  You can call us at 210-695-4455.  You can use your ePet Health account to request an appointment.  If you want to make things really easy then download our app and you can request an appointment there as well.  You can also email our client relations staff at clientrelations@hillcountryanimalhospital.com