Hospital Operations

Masks are now optional for staff and clients who have been double vaccinated.

Starting on June 1st, 2022:

We will continue to use our curbside check-in services and ask that you continue to call when you arrive and wait in your car until a team member is ready for you. We have discovered during the pandemic that using your car as the “waiting room” is a way to keep your pet’s stress level low while waiting for the doctor or nurse. It is important to state that all cats must be in a carrier and all dogs must be leashed for their appointments. Our reception team will check you and your pet in for your appointment, then a member of the nurse team will contact you when we are ready for your pet’s appointment or drop off.

Curbside-Only Services:

  • Medication Pick Up

  • Food Pick Up

  • Fecal Sample Drop Off


Lobby Drop Off & Pick Up Services: (Offered to vaccinated clients only)

The lobby will only be open for patient handoff and pickups, and to fill out the necessary paperwork for your pet’s drop-off appointment.

  • All Nurse Appointments

  • Urgent Care Drop Off Appointments

  • Ultrasound Drop Off Appointments

  • Surgery Admits

Exam Room Services: (Offered to vaccinated clients only)

  • Scheduled Doctor Appointments

  • Surgery Discharges


Curbside service will still be available for any type of appointment to clients who prefer to stay in their cars regardless of vaccination status. If you’d rather stay outside and communicate with us by phone, we’ll be happy to take care of getting your pet inside for the appointment and returned to your car when we’re done.

We are only offering in lobby services and in-person appointments to fully vaccinated clients at this time. If you are unvaccinated, we will have you remain curbside for your pet’s appointments. Thank you for your understanding.

Starting Wednesday, June 1st

  • Please stay in your car, and call the front desk at 206-782-4222 when you arrive in our parking lot for your pet’s appointment and a member of our reception team will check you in.

  • For Doctor Appointments: When we have a room ready and it is time for your appointment, a member of the nurse team will call you and provide you with instructions to enter the hospital and meet them in our lobby.

  • For Nurse Appointments, Lobby Drop Offs & Pick Ups: A member of the nurse team will call you and provide you with instructions when we are ready for you.

 

General Information

Appointments

  • Annual Exams - are booking around 2-3 weeks in advance currently, but the wait could extend longer so please plan accordingly.

  • Surgeries (spay/neuter & soft tissue) are booking out 1-2 months in advance. Dentals specifically are booking out 2-3 months in advance.

  • Labs are running behind and we are prioritizing sick pet lab work when results come in. If your pet has routine lab work, please be patient with us in getting you the results. If you haven’t heard from us in 7 business days, please check-in.

  • Medication refill requests - please allow 48 hours for us to approve any online prescription requests and to refill any medications in house.

  • Email is the preferred means of communication for non-urgent problems as it keeps our phone lines open and allows us time to follow up on questions and requests without an extended hold time. (info@ballardanimalhospital.com)

  • Please respect our staff answering the phones and know they are trying their best to meet your pet’s needs. This is a very stressful time for all of us!

 

Urgent Care Appointment Requests at Ballard Animal Hospital

Due to an unexpected increase in urgent care and sick visits, here is how they are triaged:

• Critical pets will be referred to the ER upon calling to minimize transferring the pet later.

• Do not wait to schedule sick visits. If your pet shows signs of illness, schedule quickly to secure an appointment and if symptoms improve, you can cancel. Additionally, please call us earlier in the day to increase your chances of getting a same-day, sick appointment. If you wait until the afternoon, you are more likely to get referred.

• In addition to regularly scheduled appointments, we can only offer a limited number of urgent care drop-off appointments each day. If we offer you an appointment in a few days, please know that we are at absolute capacity and cannot physically see any more appointments and that the doctors and staff believe your pet is stable enough to wait to be seen. This also ensures we have adequate time scheduled to help your pet.

 

24-Hour Emergency Hospital Referral Information

• Due to increased demand, our emergency referral hospitals are now facing longer than average wait times (sometimes as long as 4-6 hours) and at times, are hitting full capacity where they cannot see any more patients.

• How can you help? If your pet displays any signs that are concerning, call and seek medical advice and make an appointment if needed. If symptoms improve, you can cancel without penalty. We just ask that you please let us know as soon as possible so that we can offer that appointment to another pet in need.

• Call ahead to ask about wait times.

• Blue Pearl Veterinary Partners in North Seattle on Aurora is no longer seeing emergency patients. They are now a specialty referral hospital only.

We recommend the following 24-hour emergency hospitals:

o Animal Medical Center of Seattle in Shoreline
o Animal Emergency & Specialty in Kirkland
o Veterinary Specialty Center of Seattle in Lynnwood
o Blue Pearl Veterinary Partners in Renton