Like everyone else, we are very happy to see all of the COVID rates decrease in our area and across the country.  We continue to monitor the situation and make changes to modify our protocols.   Here are our policies beginning  the week of Monday, June 14th:

MASKS:   Fully Vaccinated persons (staff and clients) now have the option of NOT wearing a mask while in our office.   Unvaccinated persons (including those that have previously been infected with COVID) still need to wear a mask that covers their nose and mouth in our office.   Social distancing rules remain in effect–that is, please stay behind the blue lines in the waiting room and exam rooms.

APPOINTMENTS:  Clients have the option of accompanying their pet into our office for appointments.   Please call when you arrive and a staff member will direct you to which exam room to enter.   If clients do not wish to accompany their pet, then our staff can still continue to arrange curbside service for appointments.

CURBSIDE PICKUP:  All medication and food pickups will remain curbside.   When you arrive, call into the office and a staff member will bring your products out to your car and also do your check out there.

Please note, that we are still operating on a limited schedule to control the flow of persons into and out of our building.  Scheduling continues to be our biggest challenge, but we continue to work hard to provide great care for all of our patients.  We do reserve appointments every day for sick patients, but these fill up quickly.   If your pet needs to be seen, you need to call us early in the morning.  Unfortunately there are times that we cannot fit any more appointments into our schedule and must refer patients to one of the local emergency hospitals.

So, stay safe and healthy, get vaccinated, and hopefully all will be back to “NORMAL” soon.

We are very happy to see all of the COVID statistics continue to improve as more and more people become fully vaccinated.  At Palmer Animal Hospital we are slowly but continually revising our COVID restriction policies.  Here is what is in effect for June 1st, 2021:

–Clients will have the option of accompanying their pets into our office for their pet’s appointment.    When you arrive at the office, call into the front desk and our staff will let you know when to enter the building and which exam room you will take your pet directly to.  If you do not wish to accompany your pet, our staff will come out to bring your pet in for their appointment.

–Masks are required for anyone entering the building.  Yes, we know the state and county have released the mask mandate, but we are requiring them for the time being.   If wearing a mask is not acceptable to you, we are happy to provide curbside service for your pet.  Please note that we had a COVID incident at our office last month, so this pandemic is far from over for us and we will continue to follow the protocols we deem necessary to protect our staff and clients.

–All medication and food pick-ups will remain curbside.   Please call ahead to orders the medication/food that you need.   When you arrive at the office, call in to the front desk staff and they will bring your medication/food to you and check you out at your car.

—Please keep in mind that our appointment schedule is still limited by the number of patients/clients we can safety get into/out of our office in a certain day.   All of our staff our working their hardest to provide the best care that we can for all of our patients.  We will continue to see as many patients as possible, but there are times when we cannot fit more patients into our schedule.

Like everyone, we look forward to things returning to “normal”, but that will still take some time.  Until then, we hope everyone stays safe and healthy.

In honor of all of those who have served and protected our country over the years, our office will be closed for Memorial Day, Monday, May 31st, 2021.    We will reopen for regular business hours on Tuesday, June 1st.    We hope that all of our clients and staff have a safe and happy holiday.   In special remembrance of this day, I’m posting a picture of my father, Amos E. Palmer DVM, for his service days in Korea in 1950-51.

Amos E. Palmer 1930-1987

We are happy to announce that beginning on Monday, May 17th,  our clients will once again be able to accompany their pets into our office for appointments.   It will be great seeing people again face-to-face (or mask-to-mask to be more accurate) rather than having to talk just over the telephone.  Clients still need to call into the front desk when they arrive and be escorted into the building.   Anyone entering the building must wear a face mask/covering that entirely covers their nose and mouth as well as maintain social distancing.   There are signs up both on the front doors and inside the office to remind everyone.   We do look forward to further easing of restrictions in the future, but as this time are taking these initial small steps to keep our staff (and clients) as safe as possible (remember, we had a COVID situation in our office just last month involving a few staff members).   If you do not wish to come into the office with your pet, we can still do your pet’s appointment entirely curbside.   All other services (medication/food pickup) will remain curbside.

Looking forward to seeing you again in person and continuing to provide good service to keep your pet healthy.

Earlier this week we posted that we were dealing with a COVID situation at our office as we did have some staff members test positive.    COVID protocols required us to quarantine the majority of our staff, and so we were only able to have a minimal crew for most of the week.   The situation is now under control with no new cases since the weekend and most of the staff are back on the job.   We are sorry if this limited our ability to provide services for any of our patients, but I can assure you that those that were able to work gave it all they had.  We finally  had a more normal day on Friday, and hope to be back to business as usual next week.   As you can imagine, we are going to be extra-vigilant in following our COVID protocols to ensure this situation has ended.    Luckily most of our staff will be fully vaccinated over the course of the next week, so future implications should be minimal.

We had previously posted that we were going to be allowing clients back in the office for appointments in early May.   Well, this situation has delayed that for a bit.  We need to be sure everyone at our office is totally healthy and that no further cases appear.   The  “reopening” is now planned for Monday, May 17th.    We appreciate the patience of all of our clients, and we look forward to seeing you as much as you do being back in our office with your pets.    Keep in mind that EVERYONE entering our office must follow our COVID protocols.   That means the everyone must social distance and also wear a mask/face covering that overs their nose and mouth.

Stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you (in person!) soon.

We had a COVID situation arise at our office this weekend which will markedly limit our staffing, hours and availability for the next few days.    The office will be open, but we ask for your patience as the available staff will have their hands full trying to keep up with the already reduced schedule.   We are working to resolve the situation as soon as possible.    Here are some things you can do that will help us (help you) out:

—if you get our voicemail, please leave a message and the staff will return your call when they are available.   Note:  this will likely take longer than usual.

—try contacting us by email at:  info@palmeranimalhospital.net .   Again, response time is going to be longer than usual

—if you have an emergency that cannot wait, please call one of the local animal emergency hospitals:

—Mountain View Emergency (Hagerstown) : 301-733-7339

—CARE (Frederick) :  301-662-2273

—we will be rescheduling many appointments and surgeries until we are able provide more normal levels of staff and care

—please be sure to call the office before coming in for any reason to be sure we are able to help you

—we will be trying to take care of as many patients as possible by phone and email, but again, it may take extra time for us to respond.

Thank you for your patience.   We look forward to talking to you soon.

Spring is now here, so we wanted to give our clients an update on our COVID protocols.   As we see many parts of the country relaxing restrictions, we are getting more questions about our policies.  At this time we are still doing 100% curbside service, that is clients are not allowed in our building with their pets for appointments.   The reasons that we continue to be curbside is that: 1st) COVID rates still remain around 5% in our county and with relaxed restrictions there are concerns that another spike could occur; 2nd) when we reduced our curbside protocol last Fall, we had a couple of “near misses”, that is clients that were in our office that later became positive; and 3rd) and most importantly, our staff has had a great deal of difficulty obtaining vaccination appointments even though we have qualified for some time.   The good news is that most of our staff is starting their vaccination series by the end of March, and should be fully vaccinated by the end of April.   That means that starting in May 2021, we will again be offering our clients the option of accompanying their pets into appointments.    We look forward to seeing you in person again as it is a much more enjoyable and efficient way to do business.   Still expect us to require clients to wear a proper mask and social distance while in the office, and we will continue curbside service for medication and pet food pickup.

We will be closed today, Thursday, Feb 18th due to the winter storm.   There are several inches of snow already on the ground and the forecast is predicting sleet and freezing rain all day.   Even the main roads including Rt 40 are not clear, so it is not safe for our staff or clients to travel.   We are working to reschedule appointments and we should be open tomorrow (assuming the weather forecast is correct).   If you are unable to reach us today (as we will have limited staff and very short hours), please either leave a message on our phone system or send us an email at info@palmeranimalhospital.net.

Stay safe!

This winter just seems to keep going on and on.   We are again expecting winter weather with significant snowfall beginning tonight, Feb 17th, and lasting potentially through Friday, Feb 19th.   If there is significant accumulation, the ability of our staff to travel into work will be limited, so our services may be limited.   If your pet has an appointment tomorrow, Thursday, Feb 18th, you need to call our office before coming here to be sure that  1) we are here, 2) we are open, and 3) that we are able to see your pet.   We try our best to offer the services our patients need, but the safety of our staff (and clients) is always our first concern.

Stay safe, and remember to call before coming in.

301-371-3333

Hopefully everyone is staying safe during this current winter storm.   We are currently open today, Monday, Feb 1st, but due to more expected snowfall and freezing conditions, we will be closing early at 5PM today.  We expect to be open for business tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb 2nd depending on the weather and road conditions.    There may be a reduced schedule if our doctors and staff have difficulty traveling.   Before you come to our office for an appointment or to pickup medications, please call first to be sure we are open and able to provide service.

Philip Palmer, DVM