The Rural We: Tracey Fahey, DVM
She's opened a mobile service to provide "exceptional veterinary medical care at your doorstep."
Last October, Tracey Fahey, DVM opened Berkshire Barks & Purrs, her full-service veterinarian clinic on wheels. The Sheffield, Mass.-based veterinarian had many reasons for wanting to open a mobile vet clinic, and judging from the comments on her website, her clients love having her pull up to their doorsteps. Now, she finally is practicing veterinary medicine in the way she feels is best for her clients, their animals and herself. Her service area is a 25-mile radius around Sheffield, Mass. and goes into Connecticut and New York as well as the Berkshires.
I was born in southern Maine, and got my undergrad degree at the University of Maine, Orono, in animal veterinary sciences. I was accepted at Tufts veterinary school, and graduated in 2000. In vet school, I thought I’d be an equine vet, and then in my fourth year realized how much I loved the small animals, and that I just wanted to practice small animal medicine.
I started practicing in Falls Village and then Bristol, Conn., and worked as the medical director for two practices. As medical director I had a lot of doctors under me. The corporate model is back breaking. You need to meet revenue every month, and you get to the point where you don’t know how many more clients you can see in a day. I understand that brick and mortar practices have to be like that, but it leads to a lot of vet burnout. I wasn’t sure that was the kind of medicine I was going to be happy practicing, and I began to wonder how I could do it differently.
One day I was looking on the internet and came across mobile vet clinics. I thought it was a super cool idea. Overhead is low, just you and the tech can man it and run it. You can spend so much more time with patients and clients, and still practice high-quality medicine.
I’ve got everything I need in the truck. People are amazed that we’re a little vet clinic, with an x-ray machine, surgery room, EKG, pharmacy. We do routine veterinary surgeries, spays and neuters, dentals... and right now, a lot of quill removals!
A mobile vet clinic is good for both the clients and the animals. Cats hate going to a clinic, and people stop bringing their cats for their wellness appointments because it's so stressful for them and the cats. This is the answer to that. We bring the care to them, we go to their homes. We can give them their vaccines on the couch, on the floor, wherever they’re most comfortable. And we can do multiple animals at one appointment.
A lot of people don’t have time or, for one reason or another, can’t get to the vet. Or the elderly can’t physically get there. The costs are similar to any brick and mortar vet. People also have the option to come to our home base in Sheffield. About a third of our clients do that.
It’s been a very fulfilling eight months. I’m really proud of everything we’ve done.
