MSU vet clinic modifies hours, urges calling ahead

The Michigan State University Veterinary Medical Center has modified its operations to maintain the quality and efficiency of its Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care Medicine Service, or ECCM, while protecting its clinical staff during the pandemic.

“We’ve seen an increase in new caseload by nearly 40%,” said Matt Beal, head of MSU’s ECCM Service. “We’re fighting a pandemic while we save our patients, which means we have fewer clinical staff to support us during a time with heightened demand.”

For the foreseeable future, MSU’s ECCM Service will operate based on patient capacity. Clients and referring veterinarians are encouraged to visit the hospital’s website for up-to-date capacity alerts.

All patients brought to the MSU Veterinary Medical Center will be evaluated for care and any patient with immediately life-threatening problems will be admitted; however, during times of exceeded capacity, MSU will only accept the most critically ill patients in need of life-saving care.

“We want to avoid sending people away, especially if they’ve traveled a great distance to get here,” Beal said. “If you call first, we can tell you whether or not to come in, or if you need to seek treatment for your animal elsewhere.”

he public and referring veterinarians should note the following service changes:

Changes to small animal ECCM day service:

• All walk-in patients will be evaluated, and life-threatening cases will be admitted. Cases evaluated as stable will be referred to the client’s primary care veterinarian, other facilities, or other services within the MSU hospital, if possible.
• From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., the ECCM Service will operate as a “referral only” service; however, walk-in patients with critical illness or immediately life-threatening problems will always receive care.
• Referring veterinarians should call 517-353-5420 prior to sending any patients to MSU.

Operations during exceeded capacity:

• The MSU hospital will only accept the most critically ill patients in need of life-saving care.
• Referring veterinarians should call 517-353-5420 prior to sending patients to MSU. Clinical staff will determine if MSU or another facility will be best equipped to manage each case.

Visit the hospital’s web page for the latest information regarding service operations.