MANCHESTER – The sudden closure of Whiting Veterinary Clinic shocked and saddened staff and pet owners recently, leaving two staff members to dispense patient records.
Employees were informed on October 25 during a staff meeting that the clinic would be closing. Signs posted to the door of the clinic located at 108 Lacey Road Suite 14 noted the closure. Staff members believe this was a financial decision.
Two staff members remain in the office for the next few weeks to make sure all clients receive their pets records. Stacie Cullen Jankauskas told The Manchester Times that she made the social media post to inform patients about the closure and that they should come in to pick up their pet’s records. A notice on the clinic’s website also noted the closure.
Jankauskas noted in her post that “the rumors are true; we have been permanently shut down as of October 25. I was the supervisor of Whiting Vet. The entire staff at Whiting has been completely blindsided by this news as we all just found out during an emergency staff meeting from our corporate (owner).”
“We apologize for such an abrupt notice, but unfortunately, we had no idea this was coming. This has been an extremely emotional time for the entire staff at Whiting Vet. We feel for our clients and patients in knowing that there is no other animal hospital close in the area,” she added.
Jankauskas asked pet owners to be “kind in your words during this time as the staff is grieving the loss of a hospital that everyone had called home.”
She told The Manchester Times, “I started in 2021 when Dr. Shore had the practice. She then sold to a corporate called Vet’s Best Friend and from there a company called Rarebreed so they have owned us for a year or two.”
According to a July 8, 2022 article on Pets.care, “Rarebreed Veterinary Partners, a growing veterinary hospital group, recently announced the acquisition of Massachusetts-based veterinary group Vet’s Best Friend (VBF). The deal adds 47 locations to Rarebreed’s 71-practice network, making it among the largest practice groups nationwide.”
It stated that “together, the two entities include general practice, urgent care, and specialty emergency hospitals. Rarebreed is majority backed by private equity firm, Revelstoke Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.”
“I will say they were very generous with their personal time off and sick pay. They gave us holiday pay,” Jankauskas said. “We got to have our own schedule here so they really didn’t make up any prices or anything like that. We were told we had a mandatory meeting last Friday and that we all had to attend. We all came in and unfortunately the meeting was to tell us that we were closing effective immediately on Friday, October 25.”
She added that “there has been a lot of concerns about patients that are on medications as well as patient medical records. Unfortunately, we are unable to fill any medication’s from here on out if your pet is on chronic medications.”
Jankauskas advised pet owners to take their pets “to another veterinary hospital to form a doctor-patient relationship in order for you to get any medications that your pet may need, including prescription food.”
“They kept myself and another employee on until November 15 to help people get their records,” Jankauskas said. The clinic will be open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for people to pick up their pets’ medical records.
Pet owners can also call the clinic and leave a message. “I will say it is much easier for you to come in person for us to give you your records,” Jankauskas said. “You can also email contact@whitingvetclinic.com and we should be able to provide you with records as well if you are unsure if you have an email on file or not, you can call the office or again just stop in.”
“We couldn’t dispense any medications because the doctors themselves were laid off. We had about 12 people on staff,” Jankauskas told The Manchester Times.
“We did get a lot of backlash from our clients on social media because it was so abrupt and no e-mail or anything went out to them so I took it upon myself personally to make a Facebook to explain to them that this is something that the staff at Whiting Vet didn’t know was happening and ultimately to be kind to us as we are grieving the loss of a hospital that we consider home as we are very close to our clients and our patients here and this was something I felt being here the longest that I needed to reach out and let people know,” she added.
Jankauskas said, “probably 90 percent of our patients who came in because of my Facebook post. We currently don’t have our phones on right now because there are only two of us and we are trying to get through the 600 e-mails we currently have for records.”
“We would see anywhere from 20 to 40 patients in a day depending on tech appointments and surgeries. We are referring people to hospitals in Toms River as well as Forked River. There is one other vet in Whiting but unfortunately, I don’t think he is seeing any new patients currently,” she added.
Jankauskas said, “it has been extremely hard for the staff and myself. It’s been a very emotional rollercoaster for all of us and being here with my team that I consider family is awful.”
The clinic had a promotional table at Manchester Day in June providing information and promotional items to the public there. Jankauskas was there for that with fellow employees.
When asked if the company provided any indication as to why it would close this location she responded, “they are based out of Maine and they have quite a few locations but only a couple in New Jersey. They didn’t really disclose why.”
She said the client visits have not declined, “we’ve actually been taking on more new clients recently. We are the only animal hospital in this area and these elderly people literally have no place to go now. We will be saying goodbye to people that we consider family and patients that we consider our own.”
Clients were coming in on the afternoon of October 29 to secure their records. One township resident expressed anger and emotion about how the closing was handled. “They lost their jobs and that sucks but the worst thing is the seniors that can’t get to a vet, that they have to drive out of this town. That is worse than these people losing their jobs because they will find something.”
The resident emotionally said “for these seniors their dogs are dying because they can’t go anywhere.” He walked away declining to provide his name.
Lakehurst resident Laura Sloan also picked up her records and noted the same concern. “This is going to be hard. Our animals have gone here forever. We had a cat that passed away. We have a new cat and our daughter’s dog and my mother’s dog.”
“I don’t even know where to go? There is nowhere really close,” she added noting that Toms River was a distance away and Crestwood Village Veterinary Clinic in Whiting wasn’t taking in new patients. “They are already refusing people. We have three pets, a cat and two dogs. My mother’s dog gets medicine and she has to find another vet quickly. They need another vet in this area for sure.”
