Providing Care While Further Reducing Risks – COVID-19 Update

Our two-team “bubbles” have reunited! The two-team bubble policy was implemented on April 11th in an effort to protect our staff should one staff member test positive for COVID-19 as we could still operate with half of our staff versus completely closing down the hospital for weeks at a time. Reuniting our two separate teams will help open-up appointment availability. We are now accepting new clients on a limited basis. However, as we all now know this is a dynamic and rapidly changing situation within which management may need to iterate – possibly affecting appointment availability once again. We will keep you updated. Please bookmark this page.

Of you, we ask for your continued patience with our staff during this time. If your phone call goes unanswered, please try back later. If your email or social media message goes unanswered in the timespan you’ve been accustomed to receiving a reply, please give us a little more time. CoastView hospital was not designed to operate in this manner and please know we are all doing the best we can.

As a reminder, the “Please Do Not Enter” signs on our front doors are still displayed and will be until further notice. For your safety, and the safety of our staff, only CoastView Vet employees are to enter our hospital. Whether you are here with your pet or are only picking up medication, food, supplies, etc., our 100% Curbside Concierge Service remains in place. See below for more specific information and protocols.

When possible and in the best interest of your pet, we will continue to fill a variety of prescriptions through our onsite hospital pharmacy if:

• One of CoastView Veterinary’s staff veterinarians is the prescribing doctor and the prescription is up-to-date.
• We carry the medication, food, or product here in our onsite hospital pharmacy.
• Your pet should not wait, or you would rather not wait, for Options #2 or #3 listed below.

Process your pet’s prescription through our veterinary-specific online pharmacy partner, Vet’sFirstChoice. The staff has been trained to facilitate ordering from Vets First Choice. We chose Vet’s First Choice as our primary online pharmacy and clients have been pleased with the pricing, ease of use, customer service, and weekly discount coupons. Once your account has been established, CoastView’s veterinarians can quickly add any newly prescribed medication and also authorize refills. We understand that change can sometimes be difficult. However, we put significant thought into choosing an online pharmacy partner whom we believe will best serve you and your pets for years to come.

Provide you with a handwritten prescription which you can then:

• Take to the pharmacy of your choice. For example, human pharmacies such as Costco, CVS, Walgreens, and RiteAid may either carry or special order prescription medication for your pet. We recommend that you call human pharmacies ahead of time to inquire about price, availability, and turnaround time as your CoastView staff cannot answer these questions.
• Mail or fax the handwritten prescription to a third-party veterinary specific online pharmacy such as Chewy.com or PetMedsExpress/1-800-PETMEDS.

Note – we’ve heard from clients that many of these third-party veterinary specific online pharmacies have a significant backlog and are not processing, filling, or shipping pet medication on a timely basis. We recommend that you contact the third-party pharmacy to inquire about price, availability, and turnaround time. Once again, your CoastView staff cannot answer these questions about third party pharmacies.

Effective immediately and until further notice, we will not be accepting any new clients. If you are a current or former client who has added a new pet to your home, we are happy to meet and care for the newest members of your fur-family. This is a temporary change to our policy made in the best interests of serving you, our current clients, and providing the quality of care you’ve come to expect from us.

As always, the safety of our patients, clients, and employees remains the top priority. At this time, no animals in the United States have been identified with the virus and there is no evidence that pets can contract or spread coronavirus. Here is a link to the current World Organization for Animal Health FAQ for coronavirus. Here is another link to information from the American Veterinary Medical Association about coronavirus and how it relates to our animals. Purely out of caution, it is recommended that those ill with coronavirus, or suspected to be ill, limit contact with animals until more information is known about the virus.

CoastView Veterinary Hospital is currently open for normal business hours which are Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm, and Saturday from 8am to noon. We take great pride in the cleanliness of our hospital and always uphold the highest standards of sanitation in all of our operations. With that being said, we have put some additional measures in place to further raise the current standards.

• Our teams are closely following all updates and information pertaining to coronavirus.
• We have increased the frequency of cleaning, especially in our public areas to include the lobbies, door handles, and bathrooms.
• We are increasing the concentration of our sanitizing compounds in order to ensure the virucidal, bactericidal, and fungicidal properties are as high as possible while still safe to use.
• Not permitting any employees to report to work with any of the currently stated symptoms of COVID or any other type of respiratory issue/symptom.

CoastView remains available to see your furry family friends. We will maintain staffing for our normal procedures such as annual exams, sick animals diagnosis and treatment, and surgeries.

In order to protect our staff and provide care for your animals, we would like to ask that any clients with respiratory symptoms reschedule their appointments and allow us to care for your animal when you are feeling better.

Currently, we are not experiencing shortages of medications or supplies. You will still be able to get the treatments your pets need and the prescriptions required. We are more than happy to refill prescriptions in the hospital. In addition, you can visit our online pharmacy, Vet’sFirstChoice, for any current or new medications. Online pharmacy medications will be shipped directly to your home.

Purina and Hill’s Science Diet have direct ship to home programs for prescription foods. Contact us if you have any questions and we can assist you with making sure your animal has the proper diet.

Keep in mind, CoastView has always provided housecall services. It is an integral part of our Fear Free approach to animal care, but is also a great resource for our clients that may be at higher risk for coronavirus. Give us a call if you would like to schedule a visit to your home at 858-914-1934.