Client Instructions
Veterinary Teaching Hospital
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Pullman, WA 99163-7060
Phone (509) 335-0711
Fax (509) 335-3330
Thank you for choosing Washington State University Veterinary Teaching
Hospital for your pet’s medical needs.
We hope that the following information will help make your visit as
beneficial and pleasant as possible.
Before Your Appointment
Unless directed otherwise, do not feed your pet after 10:00pm the night
before your appointment. Providing water
throughout the evening and even the morning of the appointment is okay.
Please bring any radiographs and other
important records from your pet’s previous veterinary care to the
appointment.
Getting to Pullman
Visit our websites for maps and driving
instructions.
The addresses are:
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/maps and
http://www.campusmap.wsu.edu/directions/seattle.html .
Or contact us (509-335-0711) and we will be happy to send you maps of
Pullman and the WSU campus.
RV
Parking is not allowed at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. This includes
horse trailers with living quarters. If you
have a RV and would like to stay in it while your pet is with us, please
contact Pullman Parks and Recreation
(509-338-3227) or WSU Parking (509-335-PARK).
Arriving at the Veterinary Hospital
There is a client
parking lot sign-in sheet located at the front
desk. To avoid a parking ticket you should enter your name, license plate
number, and the make and model of
your car on the sheet. You will only need to sign in once for free all-day
parking.
For the protection of your pet and the safety of others please keep your pet
in your control, by either keeping it in
a sturdy transport carrier or on a leash. If children accompany you, please
be aware that other animals in the
lobby may act aggressively toward your family members and pets if these
animals are approached. Children
should be closely supervised and always use caution when interacting with
unfamiliar animals.
Your Appointment
After checking in with front desk, a senior veterinary student or veterinary
technician will most likely meet you.
They will often discuss your pet's medical history and perform an initial
physical examination. After that you will
meet with one of our staff doctors. As our hospital strives for complete and
thorough care for your pet, this
sometimes takes time. In some instances, especially for more complex medical
evaluations, you may need to
spend several hours at the hospital for the initial and possibly subsequent
appointments. Depending on the
reason that your animal is presented to us, you should also plan on spending
one or more overnight stays in the
area. A better idea of the length of your stay is often able to be determined
following initial assessments by the
hospital team.
For your convenience, the following local hotels offer
discounts to our clients:
| Holiday In Express | 509-334-4437 |
| Hawthorne Inn | 509-332-0928 |
| Quality Inn | 509-332-0500 |
| Cougar Land Motel | 509-334-3535 |
| Lucas House | 509-330-1136 |
After Your Appointment
If your animal will be staying at the hospital, ask the student to provide
you with a business card with their contact
information if they don’t initially do so. If you return at a later time to
visit your pet or to meet with hospital
personnel, please inform the receptionist of your name, animal’s name,
student’s name, and doctor’s name when
you arrive.
When your pet is discharged from the hospital, you will often receive both
oral and written discharge instructions.
If you were referred by a veterinarian, your doctor should also receive a
copy of the discharge instructions. Due to
time delays in mailing, however, it is often helpful to provide your local
veterinarian with a copy of the written
discharge instructions if necessary.
Please feel free to ask the student and doctor any questions you have at any
time, and regarding any aspect of
the medical care for your pet. If questions arise after your have left the
hospital, please feel free to call the main
hospital switchboard number at 509-335-0711. Please inform the operator of
your name, the student’s name, the
doctor’s name, your animal’s name, and the purpose of the call.
Payment for Medical Services
At the time of your hospital visit, you will be given an estimate of anticipated
charges for evaluation and/or treatment. An estimate usually is given as a range
of costs anticipated. Hospital policy requires payment of at least one half of
the highest estimated amount when a pet is first hospitalized or when an
estimate is revised during a patient’s stay. The balance of hospital charges is
due at the time of discharge. Payment options are Cash, Check (personal,
traveler’s, or cashier), Visa (with valid ID), or MasterCard (with valid ID),
and as of June 1, 2009, CareCredit.
CareCredit
We are proud to announce that as of June 1, 2009, we are offering CareCredit as a payment option for our clients. To learn more about CareCredit
or to apply online, please go to
www.carecredit.com. The WSU VTH will only accept approved applications that
you, the client, have applied for online or the CareCredit credit card.
We will
not process written applications here at the VTH and we cannot help you apply
online. You may apply online here at the VTH and if approved, we will process
that application. We offer 5 payment plans to our clients: 3 months at no
interest (if paid off in 3 months, otherwise the rate jumps to 22.9%), 24, 36,
and 48 month at 13.9% interest for a balance over $1000.00 and 60 month at 13.9%
interest for a balance over $2500.00. For payment with an online application
(which we will keep for our records), we will need two pieces of valid ID. For
payment with a CareCredit credit card, we will need to see one piece of valid
ID. If you have a co-applicant and you either apply online here or elsewhere
and you bring in the approved application, we will need two pieces of valid ID
for the co-applicant as well.
We cannot process a CareCredit transaction over
the phone or without ID.
Wireless Access
Some clients like to have access to the wireless system on the
WSU Campus while they are here. Information about accessing the system can be
found at:
https://webapps.wsu.edu/ais/friendaccounts/Default.aspx and
http://www.wsu.edu/wirelessinfo/.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions regarding
your upcoming appointment.
