Absolutely. I mean, you have the, I mean, part of it started with the, the hospital. The hospital opened about a week or two before I started. So I walked into a brand new building, but there was also a significant amount of budget that had been allocated for equipment… Read More
Yes, I think so. One of the new, one of the new veterinarians, actually, one of the very first responsibilities I had before I ever even officially started is there was, as Dr. Phillips was making the decision to go to California, there was also an opening for a second… Read More
So I, I was, I, I can’t, I I can’t actually tell you what my position was. It might have been chief veterinarian or it was head veterinarian. The veterinary services thing wasn’t part of the title, but I was the, I was hired to, to fill the role that… Read More
But I was a clinical vet, as is the head of the, the program today still has clinical responsibilities. Read More
Were you accepted by the new veterinarians and staff?… Read More
Yes, yes. At Lincoln Park, 50% bigger. There were, there was a head veterinarian and two assistant veterinarians at Brookfield, and there was a head vet and an associate at Lincoln Park, roughly similar collections. But you did not start out as a staff veterinarian, you’re director of veterinary services… Read More
Was the medical staff at Brookfield larger than Lincoln Park?… Read More
Does this mean you’re no longer doing veterinary work, but only administration?… Read More
And so he asked us all to come on board. He asked me to run to, to chair the search committee simply because I was really close, I could come out and communicate much more easily than the, the folks that were widely scattered. So through that process, I, I… Read More
And even some things that turned out to be disaster management, it had a giraffe procedure that didn’t go well and wound up having to euthanize the giraffe. I had all those experiences and I had met George multiple times throughout that time and prior to my immediate predecessor getting… Read More
Rab and to talk at length about the program without being one of his employees. And so I, I think that was a huge help and, and I think, you know, may have been a factor in me getting the job after the person that was hired after that search,… Read More
Was he your immediate boss?… Read More
So Who was the zoo director at the time and what was your relationship with him?… Read More
It, yes, Dr. George Rab was the director and I at the way things were set up at that time. I directly s reported to Dr. Rab and the, Dr. Rab was an amazing director and conservationist, but he was a super interesting personality and he could be kind of,… Read More
Would you be interested in thinking about Brookfield?… Read More
And so long story short, I did, they were building this brand new hospital and I came and I interviewed and that’s how I made the move from Lincoln Park to Brookfield. So it wasn’t, it wasn’t something I sought out, but, you know, because of that relationship that developed… Read More
What kind of zoo did you find when you came to Brookfield?… Read More
Obviously with my particular interest in, in the medical aspect of it, they had just built this state of the art hospital that was a real attraction. We were talking at Lincoln Park about what we can do to expand this, you know, 20 some year old facility and you… Read More
I said, not really. Why do you ask?… Read More
And he said, well, I’m being recruited to go out to Davis, California to the vet school out there. They’re really interested. My wife is from there, so she’s really interested in heading out to California. And so it looks like I’m gonna be headed that way. Read More