Northwest Veterinary Hospital PC

They're very close also. We just really liked everybody there, they're so nice, they got us in so fast and so easy, it seems like no matter what time I arrive, they're just ready for me, always quick, they're just great overall.

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The cost of service for the one visit was $93.00 but this review will include all the services I've received from them over the past 9 months and I'm sure the amount spent was well over $1,000 and worth every penny. The services included surgical insemination of my Pharaoh Hound and all of the follow up visit (shots, nail trim, wellness exams) for 4 puppies. At every point of contact from Dr. Pam, her husband Rob and her assistant Casey, we (the pups, the momma and me) were provided fantastic, professional, personal and kind attention. No better care could have been given. This being my 1st litter, Dr Pam took care to explain to me exactly what the process would be and the measures she would use to ensure the best chance for a successful and healthy litter. This is a great family business and one I will use in the future.

This was just a quick visit to drop off the sample. Kasey (sorry if I've misspelled the name) greeted my dog and the foster and even gave her a quick once-over there in the lobby. I use Dr. Pam for all my dog's shots, and heart worm and flea preventative medication. She's also helped with a bad sprain of my dog's front leg, and a severe flea byte allergic reaction when a foster brought in "the little livestock."

I took my lab to Dr. Pam after she was 1 year old and had multiple failed attempts to cure her bladder infections at another clinic.. Dr. Pam solved the problem after one visit. My lab never had another bladder infection. Dr. Pam has always been kind and compassionate with my little Maggie and is easy to reach by phone if I just need to ask her a question.. She never makes you feel rushed and explains clearly all my questions. The staff is friendly and helpful.

Mark Schmidt was the vet there when we started. Eventually Pam Doubek bought the practice. My comments will reflect our more recent visits. Dr. Pam has proved to be a compassionate, professional veterinarian for our "four legged kid". She has provided all the routine services you would expect and then some. Our dog is 17 years old so, the last few years have required a lot of extra attention. We have appreciated that through it all, Dr. Pam has given us the information we have needed to make decisions. Even the tough decisions at the end. She has presented the spectrum of high-tech and low-tech alternatives and treatments with the advantages/disadvantages of each. In general, we have found the clinical staff at Northwest to be caring, friendly, responsive and flexible. We feel very thankful to have had such great people to care for our dog.

I have always been very satisfied with their service. I would recommend other people take their pets there. They are very personable. I have used this company for 30 years now.

My experience with this Clinic has been horrible this past year... the Vet who established the business, Dr Mark, was wonderful, and my dog actually "chose" him out on the street, so that is how I ended up going to this clinic originally. Things were "ok" when Dr Pam took over -- until this year when my dog, who is now aged and a senior at 14 yrs, had his first geriatric episode; then they were not there for me at all! Happy to accept my money and answer questions for the last 7 years, but now that I REALLY needed them, they failed me, in every single sense of the word. My dog had a Senior Vestibular episode in January of 2010... when I called up the Vet, she was not in that day... but thankfully she did make arrangements to come in and see us, for that I was grateful. She did not have a tech there to draw blood, so asked me to come back in a couple of days... which I did -- and at that time, she didn't even mention the blood testing again? I thought it was strange, but dismissed it, thinking she was the doctor and knew what to do to treat my dog, so I went along with it. I noted that her husband was there that day in the office and she seemed in a big rush to get me out of there... but again, I dismissed it thinking it was just a one time occurance, I was there maybe a half hour. I was given some meds to try out, and was to call back... which I did a few days later, only to find that the doctor was again not available/out of the office again with no back up. Her receptionists tried to reach her, but couldn't... and this is where the troubles began. One of the receptionists is great, she really listens when you call in and understands what you are saying and relays that information accurately. The other receptionist, is behind what I feel was the majority of the problems that I experienced: I would call in and explain that my dog was nausious and vomiting and not eating... and I was asking which of the two meds given me should we continue and asking questions about what options we had etc. The receptionist in question would NOT relay exactly what I was telling her to the doctor ... she glossed over important details, and twisted what I said around, leaving out very important information, demonstrating that she really didn't understand what was going on -- so that THE MESSAGE GIVEN TO THE DOCTOR WAS COMPLETELY LOST IN TRANSLATION! They started to treat me as though I was annoying for asking simple questions -- and all this was new to me, and just the beginning as I have never dealt with a senior dog before. I was naturally worried about costs.... because up to this point, I always could afford to drop a few hundred dollars there, but I had recently been laid off from my job and am making $20K less a year now!! This office has absolutely NO compassion or understanding in that regard -- they treated me like dirt simply for asking routine questions about costs on my bills... they acted as though I was being rude, when, as a consumer THAT IS MY RIGHT to inquire about charges listed! For example; the first visit I went in, she did not have a tech available, so she had to ask me to return back two days later - should I get charged yet another office visit for that, when she was not appropriately staffed and requested that I come back in again two days later? I was NEVER rude or upset, I simply asked questions ... I figured that this was just the beginning of some high costs for me and I was trying to make smart decisions by being informed, but this seemed to irritate them. When I called, the receptionist would often put me on long holds, and then when I explained why I was calling, her standby answer was always, "well, I dont know what to tell you...?? I guess you should just bring him in again". I came in the office to pick up a prescription, and I asked what the "refill cost" was, at $11 per Rx - just asking simple questions about the bill, and the receptionist offered to go to the back to see if they had any of the meds I needed at a discount. When she went to the back, I HEARD THE DOCTOR SAY, "WHAT DOES SHE WANT NOW?" and the receptionist, after being nice to my face and OFFERING (I never asked for this) to look for discount meds for me, replied, "OH SHE'S P***** OFF ABOUT HOW EXPENSIVE THE Rx's ARE!"...I was absolutely stunned!? I never complained or was upset or mad, and for her to be nice to my face, but then misrepresent me to the doctor was absolutely not professional or tolerable! (not to mention I could hear them talking about me!??) I confronted her when she came out and asked her politely why she just told the doctor something that I did not even say... and I mentioned that this had been a problem also when I had called into the office looking for guidance, the receptionist then turned on the doctor and blamed HER!? Telling me "I know, I wish she would just come out here and talk with you directly herself". I have never encountered such a dysfunctional business; all of them seem ready to throw one another under the bus! The communication is atrocious, the service is unacceptable, and they are very unorganized. The receptionist in question does not posses the correct aptitude or skill sets to be working in that role unfortunately. The doctor's husband happened to be in the office again that day, he was hovering around catching bits and pieces of this scenario... When the receptionist said the doctor should come talk to me herself, he chose to pipe up and say aggresively to me, "At this point, I don't think Dr Pam WANTS to talk to YOU!", as though I had done something wrong to them!? I was simply outraged ...I have never encountered such rudeness, incompetence, and lack of customer service in my life. I immediately started crying, because I had been through the emotional wringer with my dog-- fearing he was going to die, and after being subject to this kind of treatment, after spending hundreds of dollars over the years, only to find they don't even truly care -- it was just too much. Needless to say I have taken my business elsewhere! The other VERY interesting part to all this is that my neighbor/one of my best friends works at another Vet, and she was there the night my dog had his episode, and had been talking with the Vet where she worked about my dog and what I should be doing to take care of him etc. He was SO kind and compassionate, and each time I had called my Vet and she was not in the office/unavailable, which had been several times over a two week period, he had given me outstanding medical advice on what to do. When Zeus was throwing up due to the extreme dizziness/nausea he was suffering from, the other Vet advised me to halt all medication and get him eating again. When my friend called up NW Vet Hosp to get my dog's records(because I took my business there), the RECEPTIONIST and DR PAM BOTH TRASH TALKED ME TO ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS! Talk about UNPROFESSIONAL!? They thought it was just another clinic calling to get my dog's records and freely spoke horrible untruths about me! My friend was livid as she already knew all the details, but as she was acting in a professional capacity, she had the tact [that they do not possess] to refrain from making any comment. They had the gall to say that I was "non compliant with giving my dog his medication" -- which was just unbelieveable, as I had halted the meds upon medical advice from the Vet who was actually there and available for me! I can attribute that miscommunication entirely to the receptionist who relayed the WRONG story/details when I had called up and explained how he was throwing up etc. When she explained to Dr Pam, all she said was that I took it upon myself to start and stop my dog's meds. Dr Pam was quick to slander me to this other clinic, saying I was negligent, as though I halted the meds out of whimsy!? They painted ME out as a horrible client. I have never endured such injustice as this. Completely unprofessional! She then said, and I quote here, "SHE ALWAYS WANTED TO SPEND AN HOUR GETTING HER QUESTIONS ANSWERED, BUT SHE NEVER WANTED TO PAY HER BILL" Unreal!? I always paid my bill in full! They said these nasty things about me, simply because I had asked questions about the itemization on my statements! This again, I feel boils down to the front desk receptionist, talking poorly about me to the doctor, and the doctor wasn't smart enough to figure out that she has an hourly paid receptionist, who didn't go to med school or have the training that she does, attempting to communicate medically on her level. There is a major disconnect in that office. They never even took the time to speak with me about any of this-- never gave me the courtesy to communicate with me, never cared as to why I might have to ask about the bills now that I lost my job... DO YOU THINK THEY CARED WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR ME EMOTIONALLY, TO FEEL AS THOUGH I HAD TO CHOOSE WHETHER OR NOT I COULD TAKE CARE OF MY "BABY"? IT WAS GUT WRENCHING TO NOT HAVE THE SAME INCOME ANYMORE AND TO HAVE TO ASK MYSELF IF I COULD FOREGO PAYING ANOTHER ONE OF MY BILLS SO THAT I COULD MEDICALLY TAKE CARE OF MY DOG, WHO IIS LIKE MY CHILD! Obviously they are out of tune with their clients ... there is no true caring here anymore ... NOT SINCE DR MARK LEFT. She has run this business into the ground, and it's incredibly sad. This clinic advertises that they will take their time with you and answer ALL of your questions -- DON'T BOTHER!! If you do, they will complain about you behind your back... they want you in and out as quick as possible, and just WANT YOUR MONEY. They do not want you to question your charges or ask about the itemizations on your bill, as is any consumer's right, or they will label and judge you. They do not have competent, caring or patient staff!! If you love your pet the way I do.... then do yourself a favor and go somewhere else! BEWARE OF THIS CLINIC!

And despite what I was told. If this was so, she did not tell me the truth. Number one, she said that she did not mark up the compounded liquid due to the price. Well if you divide 3 into $300 it works out to $100, what would be a $50 markup per bottle, since she charged me $150 plus tax. As we checked around, I later purchased the same prescription medicine for 120 mls for $139 dollars. So in essence I got twice the amount of medicine for $30 less. Hmmm, but she did not mark up her medicine. In re-cap, Dr. Naranjo failed to order in the compounded medicine that my dog needed for treatment, even though she knew that my dog would be transferred to her clinic. My personal veterinarian had been in contact with her to verify. This caused her treatment to last several days more, because of lack of this drug in her treatment program. And it also added significantly to the bill. Dr. Naranjo dropped the ball big time. Then she failed to rectify the bill and the situation with the compounded liquid. I was owed more medicine and was billed incorrectly and she refused to make it right. I still have the original prescription bottle to prove it. She was also less than honest to me.