A Tale of Two Vets
Veterinarians in Globe-Miami
...excerpted from Globe Miami Times Fall '08“There are four hundred and ninety four counties in the United States who do not have a vet to serve their needs” USA Today, Feb 29th 2008
According to a USA Today article published on February 29th of this year, the nation as a whole is facing a growing – and serious shortage of veterinarians. As one vet was quoted as saying, “It is a 24 hour, seven-day-a-week commitment. You don’t have time off, especially if you’re a sole practitioner.”
Just ask Doc Eubank about that one. He’ll tell you. As the sole veterinarian in this area for nearly 20 years, before a new mobile clinic came in (see: Noah’s Ark below), he did it all. Logging nearly 80 hours in his average work week for years.
He finally drew the line 4 years ago and stopped taking on new clients.
It was a tough decision for a man who likes his calling as much as Eubanks, but it was neither fair to his family or his existing clientele to push the limits each week on the number of patients he could see.
His new policy has caused some heart ache for those left outside his circle of “existing patients”, but as he will tell you, his patient roster tops nearly 4000 names. And those are the ones with names like Jones and Smith. Not Fido and sugar. That number is much higher. It doesn’t help that the people who have had him as a vet and moved away….still drive back to Globe to have him treat their animals. With precious few large animal vets practicing in the entire country today it’s worth the drive when you find a good one!
PHOTO above: Samaritin Veterinary Clinic includes facilities for large animals, as well as small ones.
“I have people who bring their animals to me from Safford and Sonoita and Tucson because I was their vet when they lived here….and I’m still their vet.” It’s a lifelong relationship. Eubank loyalty and compassion for his clients and their animals runs deep. He just got to a point where he had to draw a line.
Eubanks’ own journey to the area began nearly twenty years ago when he moved here with his wife and another graduate of Ohio State to open up a practice just off of Hwy 60. At the time, Doc Evans, who had a small animal practice above Big O Tires had begun to cut down on his own hours (retiring in 2001) and Eubank and his partner found themselves busy – from Day One. It didn’t take long for the word to get out about the new vets in town who handled both large and small animals. Ranchers who had previously had to pull from Tucson and Safford for their vet services now had their own. The two men were soon traveling hundreds of miles every week doctoring cattle and horses, and caring for small animals in their clinic.
But within two years, his partners’ wife yearned for a more sophisticated, city-style life and that was the end of the partnership. They moved.
Eubank and his wife stayed. And he became the only vet in town. A dubious distinction he has never relished and tried to remedy many times.
Over the course of his career he has tried bringing on other vets to help out with the growing demands of his practice. But, as he explains, it is hard to keep them here with the lure of more money, less hours and the amenities of larger communities. Believing that “…people are more willing to spend money to treat their cat or dog, new vets have flocked to the small-animal practices, but industry statistics show that both professions earn about the same. One of the driving forces behind the shortage of large animal vets is the overwhelming numbers of women who are entering the veterinary field. In 2007, women accounted for 78% of veterinary students and stats show that they are more likely to practice small animal medicine.”
According to the same USA article which came out in February ‘08, “Veterinary students are increasingly from urban and suburban areas, without ties to farm life.” Although the demand is there in rural communities for vets, the tendency is to look for work in metropolitan areas. The demands of serving a rural community where being a specialist is out of the question, and being a generalist takes on a whole new meaning, the job demands can be physically numbing.
Just ask Eubank.
“I start around 7am and run to 7pm five days a week, says Eubank. Saturdays I work “half days”, which means about eight hours and if I have surgery patients who stay with us over the weekend, I’m in here checking on them as well.
With a staff of 12 people he schedules surgeries first thing in the mornings – from 8 – 10 and sees patients after that. Lunch hours are often taken up with “make-up surgeries” or the un-expected. “We then see patients by appointment in the afternoon till about 6pm.” After writing up notes and making rounds of surgery patients, he is ready to go home.
Unless, of course, there is an emergency.
In 2001, he took over 250 emergency calls outside his normal 70 hour work week. He explains, that was the year he decided to draw the line. He was, after all, not only a vet, but a father to two teenagers and husband to his wife of 20 years. He hardly saw them with the schedule he was keeping. In choosing not to take on any more clients he is holding to a seventy-hour work week.
It should be noted that Eubank also works as the official vet for the Gila County Rodeo held every April and is on- call for emergencies. Plus, he has served as the track vet for the Gila County Horse Races held for two weekends in a row and has been the vet for the Gila County Fair the last twenty years.
He and his staff also serve the needs of the Gila County Humane Society and have taken care of spays/neuters and vaccinations for 513 dogs and 1802 cats which the GCHS put up for adoption. (It might be noted that while the average cost of a spay/neuter runs $125 - $175, and routine vaccinations can run another $50, the cost of adopting an animal from the Humane Society is just $35. The lion’s share of the adoption cost is subsidized through the contributions which filter into the Humane Society and Eubanks own willingness to provide some services pro-bono.)
Jeff Eubank moved his practice nearly 15 years ago to the base of Round Mountain Park just up the road from Country Kitchen. Recently he completed a major expansion to accommodate more large animal surgeries and post-surgery recuperation. It will allow him to see and treat more animals at his clinic – rather than in the field. Saving on drive time. Something he has precious little of these days. Plus, it is safer for both animal and vet.
Taking a tour of the new facility is impressive. The state-of-the-art equipment gleams, the floors are padded with rubber. Out back, there is a new wing which includes more corrals for post-op and storage facilities. It reflects an effort to stay ahead of the curve and provide better services to his clientle, large and small.
We talk about retirement. Although he is vague on that topic, he throws out 10-15 years. No telling the technical advances which will pop up on the horizon during that time!
However, if the trend keeps going the way it is………
there may not be any vets to take his place.
Noah’s Ark – A Mobile Clinic # 928-200-2076 Dr. Ted Pitman received a call in 2006 from Rita Hassard of the Copper Country News, and a woman who owns animals – small and large- asking him to consider setting up shop here when it was apparent there was a critical need for another vet. Pittman, who has been a vet for 39 years and run both a practice in Scottsdale as well as a mobile clinic for small rural communities up North (Pine, Strawberry, Young and others), says, “I looked back on those years when I had the mobile clinic as some of the most fun I’d had as a vet.”
So he agreed to take a look at Globe and shortly afterwards to start coming up one day a week. That schedule soon expanded to three days and he now sees patients on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8am-noon, with surgeries from noon “until we’re finished. His rates are comparable to other clinics- and in some cases are lower than large behemoths like Pet Smart. However, he insists on full blood work before making a diagnosis and offers only the full regimen of vaccines. “Some people come in here and just want a PARVO shot for their dog. We don’t feel that is giving them the protection they think they are buying for that dog.”
He say his clinic on wheels cost in the ballpark of a half million dollars, and he is quick to point out the full diagnostic and surgery capabilities, plus 4 kennels and all the software for lab and office work. And it can run on generator power should the need arise! The clinic can handle everything from orthopedic surgeries and dental work to routine vaccinations and spay/neuters.
The only drawback?
Gas. It just went up again.
But he and his wife have decided to pull out of Scottsdale in the near future and move to Gold Canyon where the commute will be less. Although he has no plans to expand beyond the 3 days he currently puts in behind the Chamber, anything is possible in the future. As he says, “I don’t play golf…This,” he explains pointing to his castle of high tech equipment and furry patients, “is what I’d rather be doing than anything else.”
