Swans Veterinary Services

4 5 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 The bench-mark for breeding soundness evaluation equipment. 800-777-2603 www.lane-mfg.com 8200 E Pacific Place Unit 107 Denver, CO 80231 “In all my experience, I’ve found that Lane produces the best electro-ejaculator around.” - Dr. Gary Warner, DVM, Elgin, TX SWANS VETER INARY SERV I CES give our staff tools to either help them with clients, or help them recognize when other staff might be needing a bit of help or are feeling overwhelmed.” Offering weekly fitness classes after work hours is another way Swans Veterinary supports the well-being of their staff. They also host a quarterly social gathering. “We get together, welcome new people, say goodbye to those who might be leaving, and have some time together that’s not work time. People just love that,” Swan says. As a flexible workplace, Swans Veterinary values a work life balance, and the importance of family. Having a large number of veterinarians on staff is intentional, making it possible to offer 24/7emergency service, without sacrificing personal time. Swans adds, “The more of us there are, the less you’re on call. We just want to have it so that people can have time off that they are owed, and be able to do things outside work that they want to do. We feel that is important for “Since we are so far from Perth, we’ve really been able to grow the orthopedics because there’s been demand,” Swan explains. “For a lot of people, it’s just not feasible to take time off of work to take their pet to a specialist in Perth. Most days our orthopedic surgery is being used, so that’s been great. We can justify having all the equipment for that. Our nurses get trained to help with the orthopedics, which they find really satisfying.” The hospital also has an equine barn, and a seminar room that is used for staff meetings and educational seminars geared to local livestock farmers. With 26 vehicles equipped for large animal calls, and tools such as ultrasound machines for large animals, Swans Veterinary offers a full service, both onsite and in the field, with vets travelling up to 500 kilometers to serve surrounding areas. According to Swan, covering such a wide range of services is necessary for the animal hospital. “Because we are remote, if we don’t have it, people either don’t get it done and the animal gets put down, or the treatment is compromised if they can’t go somewhere else.” She adds that, over time, experience and practice have allowed for an increase in the services offered, and in confidence of a good outcome for the animal. In 2006, Swans Vets opened a laboratory to test for BVD (Pestivirus), a costly bovine viral disease. It was Dr. Enoch Bergman who pioneered this project, which is the first of its kind in Australia and services over 200 veterinary practices and thousands of producers. Processing more than 50,000 samples annually, the lab has two full- time staff and has brought attention to Swans Veterinary at the national level. Providing a working environment that encourages growth is part of the company culture. “We try to keep training and offering our staff things so they can learn and grow,” Swan says. “In the last six months we have done a few sessions with Crampton Group. We did a team session on resilience, and another one on handling difficult clients – things that can