Meet a Member – Nicole Roybal

Nicole Roybal, DVM, DACVO, is a 2007 graduate of Colorado State University and completed a rotating internship and residency at Veterinary Specialty Hospital of San Diego where she remained for 5 years as staff ophthalmologist before deciding it was time to return home to Hawaii. She grew up in Kaneohe, attended Kamehameha Schools and is honored and excited to join the local veterinary community.

She recently opened Pacific Animal Eye Care with her husband Jason Roybal. As a brand-new, family-owned and operated ophthalmology specialty practice located in Kaneohe, they are dedicated to providing excellent service as well as high-quality medicine. They offer advanced diagnostic modalities such as slit lamp biomicroscopy, indirect ophthalmoscopy, gonioscopy, rebound tonometry, ocular ultrasound exams, and electroretinography. Surgical services include phacoemulsification for cataracts, cryosurgery for abnormal cilia and neoplastic lesions, as well as a full array of microsurgical instrumentation for eyelid, corneal and intraocular procedures.

She welcomes consultations at info@pacificanimaleyecare.com or (808)445-6778. For more info, please see www.pacificanimaleyecare.com.



Meet Your Board – Joe Herzog

Joe Herzog, DVM with Potiki

The three main academic routes at Stanford University send a student to law, business or medical school. While at Stanford as an undergraduate, Joe Herzog was on the path to medical school. An epiphany crossed that path and convinced him to be a doctor of many species rather than one.

Veterinary school at the University of Wisconsin–Madison introduced Joe to the animals of America’s Dairyland. Not wanting to spend a lifetime in rubber boots, eating cheese curds, Joe became a small animal emergency vet. As an ER vet, he was willing to see any animal that could be brought into the emergency clinic, including exotics.

A desire to see “all creatures, great and small” led Joe to a part-time gig at the Santa Barbara Zoo and then the San Francisco Zoo. It was there that his patients really qualified as exotic. His largest patient was an African elephant that weighed approximately 3000 kg. His smallest was a 5g Jackson’s chameleon.

An odd, memorable case from Joe’s internship involved a female mixed-breed dog that had been hit by a car. She came in with inspiratory dyspnea and no breath sounds in the caudal thorax. Dogs like that often have a pneumothorax, which requires expedient thoracocentesis. The chest tap easily yielded 12 mL of watery tan fluid. There were a few different things he expected from a chest tap; tan watery fluid was not one of them. Quickly to radiology to reveal: pregnancy and diaphragmatic hernia!

Joe moved to Oahu in 2007, when spouse Brenda Machosky became a Professor of English at UH-West Oahu. He no longer stays up all night to take ER cases. But, to spice-up the routine cases of skin, ears, ears and skin, Joe teaches an online Medical Terminology course at Windward Community College. He taught Pharmacology and Large Animal Clinical Procedures in the Vet. Tech. Training Program for several years prior.

As a cancer patient himself for the past 5 years, Joe has special regard for his cancer patients and their owners. He has surgically removed cancerous growths from some of our affected Green Sea Turtles. He monitors the healthy young sea turtles at the Mauna Lani Hotel and prepares them for their annual release every 4th of July, which is Turtle Independence Day.

Music and biking provide a welcome distraction from the work world. Joe sings with the Windward Choral Society. He also sang in the chorus for the Hawaii Opera Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet last year. He bikes 100 miles on a Sunday in late September with the Honolulu Century Ride. Now working part-time at Surf Paws Animal Hospital in Hawaii Kai, he relishes the opportunities to treat multiple species, and still avoids cheese curds.

Joe Herzog, DVM

A Message from Jed Rogers

Past HVMA President Jed Rogers shares a memoir of his time with HVMA and what he’s been up to since then.

Greetings fellow HVMA members,

I enjoy keeping in touch with HVMA through newsletters, emails, and trips to Hawaii. In a recent email exchange with Jill, she asked me to share some of what I’ve been up to since I moved back to the mainland.

After six great years in Hawaii and a lot of memorable experiences with family, friends, and colleagues at VCA Kaneohe Animal Hospital and beyond, I had the opportunity to move to Denver, a city I had visited before but didn’t know very well. The opportunity was a veterinary technology company, and although the ideas and technology were solid, we were a little too far ahead of the industry’s comfort zone. From there, I went back to VCA for four years to help guide a recently purchased hospital. Once I had that practice stabilized and growing, I decided it was time to forge out on my own. So I opened Firehouse Animal Hospital in central Denver in 2004. We grew quickly, so my business partner and I raised money from a private equity firm and bought 7 other hospitals, merging 2 of the smaller ones into two of the bigger ones. We built 4 facilities in 6 years, and all of the hospitals were doing well, but when the financial crisis hit in 2008, our financial partners wanted out. So in 2010, we sold the practice group to VCA.

For the next year and a half, I focused on doing consulting for two shelters: Denver Dumb Friends League, and Hawaiian Humane Society, which enabled me to come back to Hawaii frequently.

In late 2011, I started another group of Firehouse practices in the Austin, TX area, with a veterinarian partner, John Faught. After the Denver experience, I had decided to not take private investments anymore, and not to acquire hospitals, but to start them from scratch instead. That means slower growth but a lot more independence for us as business owners and as practitioners.

While we were getting the first Firehouse hospital open in Austin, I was approached about taking a position at ASPCA in New York City overseeing all of the organization’s veterinary operations. In late 2012 I accepted that position. So from the end of 2012 to the end of 2016, I traveled back and forth between Denver and NYC to oversee a group of 400 employees (including 100 veterinarians) in four groups: Animal Hospital, Spay/Neuter Operations, Poison Control Center, and Humane Alliance (spay / neuter training). As the only veterinary representative in the senior leadership of the organization, it was a truly unique experience.

By the end of 2016, Firehouse needed me full time again, so I returned and have been focused on that ever since. We are now up to 5 hospitals, with a 6th in development and hopefully a few more on the way. Our goal is to create an independent group of hospitals that benefits from some economies of scale but is able to focus on patient care and client experience delivered the way we like. My business partner and I used to say that there were 100 little things that make Firehouse what it is, and he had the great idea to actually write them down here: https://firehouse.vet/100-little-things/

Along the way, I have had personal ups and downs too. In 2013, I lost my wife Maia to breast cancer. She was diagnosed in 2002 and went through an 11-year journey. My kids (born in Hawaii) are my joy. My daughter Caitlin graduates from Colby College this year, and my son Eddy is a sophomore at the University of Denver. I recently married a college friend, Susanna Nemes, and we are now a blended family with 4 kids (all in college) and 6 cats.

I cherished my time in Hawaii. You all know just how unique it is. Where else could a haole learn to make a mean spam musubi? I’ve had the opportunity to travel around the country and the world, and there’s no place better! Hope to see all of you again sometime soon.

Jed Rogers, DVM

AVMA Veterinary Leadership Conference Report

Every year, the HVMA sponsors one of its members to attend the Veterinary Leadership Conference in Chicago alongside the AVMA House of Delegates Meeting. In 2019, Dr. Jenee Odani represented the HVMA. Read her experience below.

This was my first time attending the AVMA Veterinary Leadership Conference in Chicago (held this year: Jan 10-13, 2019). There were three learning tracks: Rising Leaders, Experienced Leaders, and Presiding Leaders. I could identify with some issues in each track and I was grateful that we could register for sessions in any of the tracks. The sessions I attended included leadership and personal development, veterinary debt initiatives, virtual care, and mentoring. My favorite session was conducted by GetMotiVETed, which taught me tricks on how to be more productive with my time and reinforced my belief that we are in the GREATEST profession of all! I enjoyed conversations with seasoned veterinary leaders as well as students and recent graduates. With new perspective and knowledge, I am more excited about the future of our profession and the rewarding ways that we can contribute to its growth. It was a great experience and I strongly urge anyone interested in learning more about organized veterinary medicine to consider attending next year!

Jenee S. Odani
HVMA Secretary

Honolulu Street Dog Coalition

The Street Dog Coalition is a Colorado-based nonprofit founded by veterinarian Jon Geller whose mission is to provide free veterinary care and related services to pets of people affected by homelessness. Dr. Geller began providing care through street clinics in Ft. Collins in 2015 and has since expanded to mentor and provide supplies to licensed, volunteer veterinarians willing to lead clinics in their communities. The Street Dog Coalition partnered with the AVMA in July for a clinic at the Denver convention in July, read more about it here.

The Honolulu Street Dog Coalition clinics are led by Aleisha Swartz, DVM, and have started providing veterinary care such as vaccinations, parasite control and treatment of minor medical concerns at the new Punawai Rest Stop in Iwilei. The facility was built by the City and County of Honolulu and is a pet-friendly hygiene center where people can do laundry, take showers, receive mail and access social services.

The number of pets belonging to people affected by homelessness is unknown but is estimated to be approximately 10%. For the first time the 2019 Hawaii Homeless Point in Time Count survey asked people if they had pets; this information should be available in the spring.

If you are interested in more information on how to support this effort, volunteering at the Honolulu Clinics, or starting a clinic on a neighbor island, contact Aleisha at honolulu@thestreetdogcoalition.org. Support staff are welcome to volunteer. For more information about The Street Dog Coalition visit their website.

Meet a Board Member: Brenda Smith, Treasurer

Dr Brenda Smith grew up ‘on the mainland’.  Living in Louisville, Kentucky for most of her childhood, she developed a passion for horses and became very involved in Pony Club and dressage and eventing.  The seeds for a career in Veterinary medicine were planted early. Moving to Texas in high school, she remained through school, graduating from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in 1995.

The next 11 years were spent in Oregon and Washington, working first at mixed animal and then small animal clinics and the Southwest Washington Humane Society. An interest in alternative medicine led to certification in acupuncture through IVAS in 2001 and several Chinese herbal courses in the following years. She got immersed in volunteer work as well, supporting and serving on the board of the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon as well as participating in international spay/neuter projects.  Spare time was spent exploring. The hiking and trail-riding and rafting are amazing in the Pacific Northwest.

Dr Smith moved to Maui in 2006, then Oahu in 2010. Moving to Oahu, she began Cherished Pet, a home euthanasia service, as well as doing relief work. Horses and rafts were replaced with surfboards and sailing gear! Volunteer work continued as well, both internationally doing spay/neuter projects and locally with the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Sailing on canoes (Faafaite and Hikianalia) from Auckland to Papeete to Hilo was a huge adventure!

The volunteer work was so rewarding, that in 2013 Dr Smith moved to American Samoa to work on a large scale spay/neuter and dog overpopulation project.  After two years and 5000 surgeries, the island dog population was much healthier. The island is beautiful, both above and underwater. Hiking and diving and outrigger paddling were spare time activities.

Last year, Dr Smith and her partner Tim moved back to Oahu and she resumed doing relief work and home euthanasia. She is currently working at Kailua Animal Clinic at their new Feline Wellness Center, paddling recreationally with Lanikai Canoe Club, and generally enjoying life biking and beach walking around Kailua. Her two cats have moved from Washington to Hawaii to American Samoa and then back. They have now been joined by four entertaining backyard hens.

Meet a Member: Kasey Carter, DVM

Dr. Kasey Carter joined the Hawaiian Humane Society as Chief Veterinarian in June of 2018. In his role as Chief Veterinarian, Kasey has drawn on prior experience to guide Hawaiian Humane in opening the Society’s Community Spay/Neuter Center in October 2018 and is developing programs to strengthen veterinary practices for Hawaiian Humane. Additionally, Kasey is responsible for oversight of two full time staff veterinarians and several part time veterinarians at the Society.

Kasey was born in Tucson, Arizona and was surrounded by all kinds of animals throughout childhood. He attended the University of Arizona for a bachelor’s degree in veterinary science in 2008. He moved to Fort Collins, CO in 2009 to attend Colorado State University and received a master’s degree in biomedical science in 2009 and subsequently a DVM degree in 2013. Throughout vet school, Kasey had a passion for shelter medicine and completed scientific studies in the shelter and academic settings. After graduation in 2013, he worked as a staff veterinarian at Denver Dumb Friends League for about five years prior to moving to Honolulu.

While in Colorado, Kasey was an active member/district representative in CVMA and is a CVMA Power of 10 alumnus. He looks forward to being an active member and working with HVMA. Kasey shares his home with his girlfriend and two dogs Kevin and Frank. When not at work, he enjoys hiking, discovering new music, and laying around with his dogs. Please feel free to reach out and let him know if you are looking for a cat – he knows a couple hundred that are looking for homes!

AVMA Update Jan 2019

American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Winter Session and The Veterinary Leadership Conference (VLC)

Aloha to you all and a belated Happy New Year!

The House of Delegates convened for the Winter Session in combination with the Veterinary Leadership Conference in Chicago, Illinois, January 10-13.  This years theme was Evolution of Leadership – Learn, Grow, Lead, Evolve your Leadership Journey. The purpose of the VLC was to provide veterinary professionals, at all stages of their career, personal and professional leadership that benefits the individual attendee and the Veterinary Profession.  The conference included:

a) AVMA governance meetings

b) Continuing Education Sessions focused on leadership development

c) Network opportunities

At this conference, Rising Leaders are interacting with Experienced Leaders to expand leadership skills and gives everyone the tools to create a roadmap for our leadership journey.

Here is a summary of our AVMA House of Delegates Winter Session:

Membership

AVMA membership is strong with the association’s official membership at more than 93,400. AVMA retained a higher percentage of members to start the year. Three out of every four veterinarians are members of the AVMA.

Health Insurance is returning!

Beginning in July, members and their employees in the AVMA LIFE Trust, or a related entity, may be able to offer health insurance as an ‘association of employers.’ This means veterinarians who are employers – including those who are self-employed – might be eligible to purchase group health insurance for themselves, their families, and their employees through the AVMA family. The program is expected to build over time.

For more information and to sign up for the latest updates,  go to: AVMALife.org or call 800-621-6360.

Enhancing the utilization of veterinary technicians

During the House of Delegates business meeting, the HOD’s Veterinary Information Forum was committed to the topic of enhancing the utilization of veterinary technicians. Prior to the forum, AVMA members were asked to provide their input on the topic to their House representatives, and more than 400 comments were received.

The value of veterinary technicians is certain and that efforts need to be made across the profession to increase technician use and boost job satisfaction. Members of the House of Delegate recommends that the AVMA Board of Directors convene a task force to design a plan to improve veterinary technician utilization and that a progress report be shared with the HOD within a year.

Governance: House of Delegate Actions

HOD members also acted on several resolutions and bylaws amendments, including:

  • Model Veterinary Practice Act: Refer to the AVMA Board of Directors
    • Consideration of a revised version that incorporates input from HOD deliberations conducted during the meeting.
  • Membership Dues Increase: Approved
    • A resolution submitted by the AVMA Board of Directors to increase annual membership dues $30 in 2020, and, if necessary, up to $10 in 2021 and 2022 for regular and affiliate memberships. Reduced dues memberships will be made equal to 50% of the annual dues of regular members.
  • Bylaw amendment expanding the composition of the AVMA Council on Veterinary Services to include a credentialed veterinary technician.  Approved.
  • Bylaw amendment changing the name of the AVMA Council on Public Health and Regulatory Veterinary Medicine to the AVMA Council on Public Health. Approved
  • Bylaw amendment removing a statement of responsibility of the AVMA Council on Research. Approved.
  • Bylaw amendment removing a statement of responsibility of the AVMA Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents. Approved
  • Bylaw amendment that replaces the AVMA Judicial Council with an ad hoc hearing panel to adjudicate complaints of unethical conduct by AVMA members. Approved
  • Bylaw amendment related to the maintenance of House status for House of Delegates member organizations. Approved
  • Bylaw amendment expanding eligibility of membership on the AVMA Council on Public Health (formerly known as the AVMA Council on Public Health and Regulatory Veterinary Medicine). Approved

Keynote speaker Drew Dudley: Day One Leadership.

Leadership is more than money, power and influence.  Drew’s message is to focus on the “everyday leadership.” We have all changed someone’s life — usually without even realizing it. Let us celebrate leadership as the everyday act of improving each other’s lives.  Create those moments that have powerful impacts and growth and that can be life changing for you and your organization. To learn more about Drew’s message refer to his Ted Talk on Leadership or enjoy his book: This is Day One, A Practical Guide to Leadership That Matters.

Future VLC Meeting

January 9-12, 2020

VLC benefits veterinary professionals at all career stages to take on new challenges and leadership roles that benefit both the individual attendee and the veterinary profession. The benefits of attending the combined VLC and House of Delegates winter session are:

  • Evolve your leadership skills – Gain new insights, expand your personal tool set, and learn from those who’ve come before you.
  • Connect with a diverse network of leaders from across the veterinary profession.
  • Deepen your understanding of how the AVMA works and discover exciting opportunities to get involved!
  • Earn up to 8 hours of continuing education credit.

Please feel free to contact your AVMA Hawaii Alternate Delegate – Carolyn Naun, or myself – Leianne Lee Loy if you would like to learn more about this meeting (avma_delegate@hawaiivetmed.org).

AVMA Convention: A Monumental Experience

Save the date: August 2-6, 2019 in Washington D.C.

Aloha!

Leianne K. Lee Loy

Hawaii Delegate for AVMA

Hawaii Veterinary Emergency Response

HVMA is working with the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) to support local and state disaster preparedness pertaining to animals. Would you be interested in volunteering in the event of an emergency? Would you be interested in being part of the working group developing a set of guidelines for animal care and treatment and considering the formation of a Veterinary Medical Reserve Corps or Companion Animal Response Team? Please help us gauge member interest by taking our survey below.

Message from the President Jan 2019

Aloha HVMA members,

January is a time to reflect back on the accomplishments of the past and look forward to the goals of the future. Thanks to the hard work of the conference committee we had another highly successful annual meeting in November with internationally recognized speakers in internal medicine, exotics, dentistry, Fear Free practice, disaster planning and more. We are already beginning to plan for next year’s event so please let us know if there are any speakers or topics you would like to see in the future. At our annual meeting we elected new officers to the board and also updated our by-laws. More information on these can be found on the Member Resources page of our website.

As we move into 2019 we look forward to serving members and the community in many ways including disaster planning with HI-EMA, legislative advocacy, keeping you informed on topics of importance to veterinary medicine in addition to opportunities to participate in community outreach. Our website’s About us page has been updated with our purposes as stated in our charter with the state. Please take a moment to read about who we are.

Membership renewal season has begun and we encourage you to renew early. Please see here for all the benefits of membership.

Finally, we want to share our gratitude to Eric Ako for his many years of service to the HVMA as the Executive Vice President. Please be sure to thank him when you see him, as this organization would not be where it is today without his tireless efforts. We are very fortunate that Jill Yoshicedo has agreed to take the reins as EVP, and know she will continue to add value to your membership and advocate on behalf of veterinarians in Hawaii. We also say aloha to Cordell Chang after many years of service as the HVMA representative to the AVMA.

Save the date for the 66th Annual Conference: November 7-10, 2019!

Aloha on behalf of the HVMA board,

Aleisha Swartz