There is a veterinary crisis in the Land of Enchantment, specifically in the case of 24/7 emergency animal care. If you have a pet who needs immediate medical attention, you may be waiting hours; hours that your pet may not have. I have been a licensed veterinary technician in New Mexico for over 15 years, and for the first time in my career, I am worried about the current state of critical veterinary care in our state.
Currently, there is only one 24/7 emergency veterinary hospital in the Albuquerque area, and staff and veterinarians are stretched to the limit to keep up with the constant flow of sick patients. The veterinary emergency clinic in Santa Fe closed over a year ago during the pandemic with no signs of re-opening in the future. Two other emergency clinics in Albuquerque had to discontinue overnight care due to the pandemic and the shortage of trained staff and veterinarians. Although New Mexico has experienced a shortage of veterinarians and credentialed veterinary technicians over the past several years, the impact of COVID-19 has magnified it significantly. My veterinary technician friends who work in emergency medicine have told me that clients may need to wait up to 15 hours to get emergency care.
The crisis is due to several things. The first is the increase in adopted pets during the pandemic. Many employees have been working remotely for the past year, and to stave off the isolation and lack of social interaction, many adopted furry companions. Nationally, pet adoptions jumped 34%. As a result, clinics have been “slammed” with appointments, patients, emergencies, and surgeries over the past year. For many clinics in New Mexico, it has not let up. Many clinics have had to turn away new clients, and wait times may be up to eight hours or more. Despite working longer shifts, veterinary staff and doctors are still drowning. This presents a problem in itself, exacerbating compassion fatigue that is already a problem in veterinary medicine, and prompting some to leave the veterinary profession altogether.
The second cause is the lack of veterinarians and qualified veterinary technicians in New Mexico. A 2020 study by Banfield Pet Hospital (a national chain of about 300 veterinary hospitals) estimates that 75 million pets in the U.S. could be without the veterinary care they need in just nine years. There are several reasons behind the shortage, which include lower wages and high veterinary student loan debt. Also, many new veterinary graduates are not interested in working in rural areas. Some future veterinarians are even being discouraged from pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. A recent Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine study of high school and college students showed that 57% of pre-veterinary students were urged to avoid veterinary medicine by counselors and/or family members.
According to a VIN (Veterinary Information News) survey of emergency veterinary practitioners, all characterized the personnel shortage as “serious,” “urgent” and “a crisis.” Owners of independent hospitals told VIN News that they’ve advertised for more than a year for veterinary staff without any applicants. Stacy Pursell, president of The Vet Recruiter, stated there has been a shortage of ER veterinarians and technicians for four to five years, and that about half of all emergency veterinary job openings go unfilled.
The third reason is salary. Most veterinary students rack up about $68,000 a year in educational costs for four years and then salaries after graduation simply cannot support that debt. Veterinary technician graduates can rack up to $30,000 in student debt for an associate’s degree in Veterinary Technology. In New Mexico, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average veterinarian salary is about $92,260 compared with $120,000 or more in states like New York and Texas. The average salary for veterinary technicians in New Mexico is $35,700, and the average for veterinary assistants is $28,240. It is easy to do the math here, especially for veterinary professionals who are paying back loans and managing to pay a mortgage/rent and make a living. These wages are not competitive.
Additionally, states with veterinary schools have a better chance of keeping new graduates in the state. New Mexico does not have a veterinary school, so many New Mexicans leave the state to attend elsewhere in the US.
How do we solve this crisis? Is it offering better pay?
AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) chief economist Matt Salois does not think that a staff shortage quite accurately explains the hiring crunch in veterinary medicine. He stated in an interview that in economic terms, a workforce shortage exists when no amount of money can fill the gap. Salois believes that an employer who offered 1.5 times the average salary would have no difficulty finding takers for ER veterinarian and technician positions. However, this may not be possible with smaller, privately-run, clinics. Salois acknowledged that some hospitals can’t pay a lot because they are constrained to offer a salary based on the additional revenue or income a clinic can provide.
Many issues surround the shortage of veterinary emergency care in New Mexico, and these matters won’t be solved overnight. Perhaps the first step would be to follow Mr. Salois’ suggestion of offering higher salaries for veterinarians and staff, however, salaries are often dictated by revenue, especially with corporate-owned practices. In any event, I do believe that educating the public, pet owners and legislators can be a first step in the right direction in solving this health crisis.