Thom and Trish Lynn had the honor of getting an invitation for the sneak peak of our newest 24/7 Emergency and Specialty Veterinarian Hospital.
BluePearl has locations all across the nation with 5 in Washington State and is based in Tampa, Florida. Some of you have already been to the BluePearl Pet Hospital in Lakewood (the closest one until this Wednesday) when BluePearl officially opens.
The new BluePearl Hospital is at 2432 Heritage Ct. SW, Olympia, WA 98502. The location of this new facility is perfect and easy to find. On Highway 101 just west of Interstate 5, take the Crosby Boulevard exit and head north on Cooper Point Rd SW, then turn right onto Evergreen Park Dr SW. From experience, we cannot begin to tell you what a relief it is to have such an easy location to find when you are in a panic trying to get your beloved pet to an emergency hospital.
It will feature 24/7 Emergency and Specialty Pet Care with state-of-the-art equipment such as MRI and CT scanners and several other pieces of equipment (can’t list them all) for caring and treatment of our pets. What makes BluePearl a great organization is the wide variety of specialties and services that they provide ranging from 14 different types of specialties including critical care, dentistry, neurology, surgery, oncology and even provide types of services ranging from hemodialysis and rehabilitation to In-Home Pet Hospice. Their telephone number is 360-810-8885 or website info at https://bluepearlvet.com/hospital/olympia-wa/
As we walked up to the table that welcomed guests, we were greeted by Alexander Snow. He is the Director of Communications at BluePearl and was our contact person and took care of everything for us (Trish loved his London accent). He made sure we had all the information we needed for this article. He introduced us to the Medical Director, Dr. Dan Hicks, who is also a surgeon.
In our interview, we found that Dr. Hicks has been a lifelong resident of Olympia and Tumwater and had been commuting for the last 15 years to BluePearl Pet Hospital in Lakewood. There are several members of the BluePearl family that are already a part of our community. Dr. Hicks said they have a staff including doctors and specialists of about 85 plus. He said BluePearl realized the need for this hospital in our community.
The idea of the new location in Olympia started its conception over 2 years ago. It took about a year and half to acquire location, set plans in motion for extensive remodeling and to finish the project. It seems many people worked on this to make it a reality.
Dr. Lisa Parshley is head of the Oncology Department and owned the Cancer Center on Eastside Street until January when BluePearl bought her out and she and her staff are moving to the new location. Also, Olympia Veterinary Specialty Hospital, on Union Avenue (OVS), now owned by BluePearl, has Doctors and staff in the new location Wednesday.
The tour of BluePearl was divided up into smaller groups and our tour guide was Dr. Lisa Parshley, head of Oncology. You can tell by talking with her that she is beyond excited to have all these specialties under one roof and to work with an organization that truly cares for your pet and wants to give them the best outcome. Everything is laid out perfectly and designed for the safety and health of their patients, the staff and the pet’s owners.
Talking with Dr. Parshley, she told us her father, who was a doctor also, said that a good doctor treats his staff just like family, and a bad doctor simply does not. Lisa said her staff do most of the work and she could not operate without her wonderful staff, who she admires greatly. They feel the same about her.
We were guided by Doctor Parshley but in each department we visited, there were one or two staff who worked in that department, and they gave us some details on what they do. You could see the excitement on their faces and how proud they were of their profession.
The location sits on over 16,000 square feet. The hospital will be staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They also have a separate room for P.P.E. sanitized safety wear so they don’t have to walk out through any other door to access the room where they will be performing work on a pet where it must be sterile. They have a nice area in the back where they can take dogs out to either stretch or do their business.
There are 2 different locations with dog runs, mainly for the larger dogs. They have showers for the dogs, if needed, and very large crates for the dogs to relax in while in treatment, some are double the size of most. They are in a few different locations so they can get attention and a few loves, or just quiet time. Everything they do is to provide the best care and comfort for the patient. It is so nice to see how everyone, and we mean everyone, loves what they do and has such love and care for all their patients.
Pet owners in our community will have peace of mind knowing that industry leading emergency and specialty veterinary care will be available when they need it most and all under one roof. This hospital will be available, not only for Thurston County pet owners, but for people who live in Lewis, Mason, South Pierce and even Grays Harbor. No more long drives to Tacoma. One thing to mention is that your contact is still with your primary veterinarian, and they would either consult with or refer you to BluePearl for additional care that they can’t provide. Of course, if it is an emergency after normal hours, you would immediately take your pet to BluePearl or one of the other emergency pet hospitals. We will give you the names of those other 24-hour emergency hospitals at the end of our article.
Thom, who interviewed Mr. Da Chang, the COO of BluePearl, was taken with the fact that he came clear across the country to be here to hold the door and welcome everyone, along with his many other responsibilities.
BluePearl was founded in 1996 and is one of the largest specialty and emergency veterinary practices in the United States today. BluePearl has more than 110 hospitals in 30 states that together employ over 8,000 Associates, including 1,100+ veterinarians, 4,000+ veterinary technicians, and 1,600+ other professionals.
Each year, their compassionate teams provide high-quality care for more than 1.1 million pets and their families. BluePearl clinicians also participate in clinical studies to discover new treatments and procedures that improve pet health. As part of the Mars Veterinary Health family, BluePearl is committed to its purpose—” A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS®”—because pets make a better world for us.
On the first tour, Atlas, the first dog we saw, helped his owner, who is a vital part of the organization guide the tour and then in our group, we had one pet, whose name is Shorty, and that little guy got lots of attention. There were a couple more dogs present, one was named Frank and never found out the name of the other dog.
One thing we didn’t realize was that BluePearl Cares is a 501c3 nonprofit organization committed to delivering on their mission of making emergency and specialty veterinary care accessible for all. Through grants and programs, the impact on the lives of pets needing specialty or emergency care is expanding to the most vulnerable in rural communities, veterinary deserts and urban centers. As a public charity, BluePearl Cares exists because of donations made in BluePearl hospitals, through BluePearl clients and online from generous supporters who are committed to improving the lives of pets.
The Doctors, technicians and staff who patiently answered questions are an incredible asset to our community.
As we mentioned earlier, we want to let you know about the other 24/7 emergency pet hospitals. Olympia Pet Emergency in Lacey located at 4441 Pacific Avenue SE, Lacey WA 98503. They provide emergency and critical care to cats and dogs 24/7. Their phone number is 360-810-5624 and they also offer features such as advanced diagnostic tools, an in-house lab and modern amenities.
Evergreen Equine Clinic is located at 4835 131st Avenue SW, Olympia, WA 98512 and are available 24/7. Their phone number is 360-534-9903. As you might guess, their specialty is horses.
As you can see, there is a real need for another 24/7 Pet Hospital in our community so a very hearty welcome to BluePearl.
Paws for Thoughts: “The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven not man’s.” - Mark Twain
Thom Donitz and Trish Lynn are neighbors and close friends who share their love of animals and wildlife. Trish and Thom are residents of Tumwater. Contact them at pets@theJOLTnews.com.
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JHermes
The article does not mention whether the new Blue Pearl location treats exotic animals, birds, reptiles, or fish.
There is a real need for these services, as I discovered when I was given a hamster...I was surprised that it proved so difficult to find an exotic vet in Olympia, the capitol city of Washington! I eventually located Farmhouse Veterinary Hospital in Olympia.
When my beloved Aurora became sick, of course it was on a weekend when an emergency clinic was required. Farmhouse referred me to Blue Pearl, and the excellent staff at Blue Pearl in Lakewood took wonderful care of her until the end of her life. I am hoping that this new location also provides 24/7 emergency care for exotic pets as well
as for cats and dogs.
7 hours ago Report this
DonnaS
Thank you for this very informative article on the new Blue Pearl Pet Hospital. I will stop by their clinic to know exactly where they are in case of any pet emergencies. I did not know that that Blue Pearl bought out Dr Parshley. She treated my kitty for cancer some years ago.
5 hours ago Report this
Scndbseman27
I'm excited that Blue Pearl is opening tomorrow. The staff in Lakewood have been amazing and so kind to my Red Heeler Bella but I'm looking forward to the shorter drive. I'm happy to hear that Dr. Parshley is going to lead the oncology department, she's a great person and doctor.
5 hours ago Report this