You Can Feel It When Your Vet Is Calm

You can tell when your vet has time for you. They answer the question you asked, then the one you were working up to. Nobody is watching the clock, and you leave knowing what happens next.

At a hospital that never closes, that takes more doing. Columbia Pike is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, so somebody is here at three in the morning and somebody else takes the morning after. What your pet gets should feel the same either way.

So we did something about it.

What a calm exam room comes down to

It comes down to attention, and as Dr. Craig Moorman puts it, attention is finite. Take some weight off a team and the focus comes back.

Emergency medicine asks a lot of people. Overnight shifts, hard conversations about cost, and a goodbye in one room twenty minutes before a puppy visit in the next. That part is the job. What a hospital does about it is a choice.

What we did about veterinary team mental health

A couple of years ago Dr. Reed Hall and Dr. Craig Moorman (LPC), co-founder of Finding Solutions Counseling Centers, built a support program for our veterinary teams.

Dr. Craig Moorman and Dr. Adi Moorman (LPC) are both licensed professional counselors, and they come from outside the company, which is what makes it work.

What that changes at three in the morning

Our teams tell us they feel calmer, more focused, and more present.

Present is the one you notice. It is the vet who answers your question and then catches the second one you had not asked yet. It is the technician who sees your dog tense up before you do, and slows down.

That matters most on the visits nobody plans.

Your dog is doing the same for you

The connection runs both ways, and the research on the human side is stronger than most people expect.

Your dog is doing something real for you. Looking after the people who look after your dog is one way we pay that back.

Frequently asked questions

Is the overnight team supported too?
Yes, it covers everyone at Columbia Pike, including the overnight emergency team, and it runs at Town and Country in Fairfax and Animal Clinic of Clifton too. Same family ownership, same program.

Who is Finding Solutions?
They are Finding Solutions Counseling Centers, a counseling practice here in Northern Virginia. Dr. Craig Moorman (LPC) and Dr. Adi Moorman (LPC) are the licensed counselors who work with our teams. Coming from outside the workplace is what makes it work.

Why put this on the website?
You are choosing who treats your animal. How a hospital looks after its own people is fair information to have before you decide.

Our counseling partner

The support program for our veterinary teams is run with Finding Solutions Counseling Centers, a counseling practice in Northern Virginia.

Dr. Craig Moorman (LPC) and Dr. Adi Moorman (LPC) co-founded Finding Solutions and lead the work with our doctors and technicians. They see clients of their own too, at findingyoursolution.com.

When should you call us?

For anything urgent, call us at any hour. Columbia Pike Animal Hospital and Emergency Center is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, with veterinarians and technicians awake and in the building overnight. There is no additional emergency fee, so the exam costs the same at three in the morning as it does at three in the afternoon.

For a routine visit, schedule an appointment online. It takes about a minute and you can do it at two in the morning if that is when you remembered. If you would rather talk to someone, call (703) 256-8414. We are at 4205 Evergreen Ln, Annandale, VA 22003.

Love People. Love Pets.