The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Old, new combine for growth at clinic
Technology serves pet health for 2nd generation vet
Pet health, advanced technology and family history come together under the roof of the Lorain Animal Clinic.
Pet health, advanced technology and family history come together daily under the roof of the Lorain Animal Clinic.
The veterinary hospital is led by Dr. Thomas Wood, the second-generation family owner of the clinic at 4205 Oberlin Ave. in Lorain.
The Lorain Animal Clinic has grown in size each year since Wood began in 1987. It retains a mixture of old and new.
During a time when the clinic is closed, Wood made a quick walk through several rooms. Some have countertops, some have operating tables, all have current technology in pet care.
“This is basically the hub of the hospital,” he said.
There are chemistry machines and a wet lab to process samples of urine and fecal material.
There is a surgical suite with the office’s original ultrasound machine. It has a laser scalpel, oxygen for patients and monitors for the animals’ vital signs.
There is a dental suite with a digital X-ray machine, additional testing equipment for chemistry and blood clots, a digital ultrasound machine.
It wasn’t always this way.
Clinic history
Wood’s father, Dr. Wilfred C. Wood, graduated from Ohio State University in 1956. He moved his family to Amarillo, Texas, to serve in the Air Force, then moved to Lorain in 1958.
There are homes on Oberlin Avenue, and south of West 21st Street, it serves as a center of commerce for the city.
The late Dr. Wood bought the veterinary clinic that started in 1946 on the edge of town.
“This was out in the middle of nowhere,” Wood said about the building’s location. “This was country. Tower Boulevard didn’t’ exist. Oberlin Avenue was two lanes with an open ditch. This was the edge of town.
“That was the beginning of Lorain Animal Clinic,” he said.
The elder Wood began treating small animals downstairs and his family lived upstairs.
“It was a simpler practice back then,” Wood said. “My dad would see people all day, then go upstairs to eat, they would come knock on the door, he had to go back down.
“If you’re here, they’re going to come,” Wood said.
Family life with a vet
The family lived there when Wood was born and would stay there until he was 4 years old. He began working in the veterinary hospital “as soon as I was old enough to clean cages.”
The family were the only employees to visit on Sundays. They would take out the dogs staying there and clean the cages, then wash up themselves and head to church.
Wood continued working there through grade school and high school, learning the skills that veterinary technicians do now.
“It was a lot more labor intensive back then,” he said.
His father wrestled for Ohio State University, earning a spot on the team that won the 1951 Big Ten championship. Along with care for animals and their owners, he guided his son to become a competitive wrestler and swimmer.
“I attribute a lot of that to why we’ve been so successful,” Wood said. “At an early age I learned that success only came before work in the dictionary. I wasn’t the strongest or the fastest, but I could outwork anybody.”
Wood wrestled in high school and at the College of Wooster, then coached in Upper Arlington while at Ohio State University’s veterinary school.
If you ask any wrestler, the sport becomes “kind of like a cult,” Wood said.
“We know how to suffer,” he said with a laugh.
“I used those principles as far as working,” Wood said. “No one’s going to outwork me.”
Hard work
Becoming a veterinarian is difficult because the schools are competitive, Wood said. Every veterinarian he knows is a smart doctor and business operator, he said.
“I respect all my colleagues. They’re all sharp individuals,” Wood said. “The only way I can compete is to outwork them.”
When he started in 1987, Wood grossed $134,000 working at least 55 hours a week.
There was no receptionist, so he answered the telephone and the clinic had a part-time surgical technician and a kennel assistant for dog care in the mornings.
Before computers, Wood used a Texas Instruments programmable calculator to plug in costs for services. That became his introduction to key performance indicators that would help him track the business and maximize efficiency.
As the practice started to grow, Wood became more involved in the community, serving on the city board of health by appointment of the late Mayor Alex “Kiki” Olejko. Wood served two terms on the Lorain School Board and in community service groups.
“Everywhere I went, I learned stuff,” Wood said.
For example, when the city Health Department did time and motion studies to study worker efficiency, Wood emulated that practice.
Thus began delegation of tasks within the clinic. Wood focuses on medicine, explaining knowledge, diagnosis and surgery.
“Everything else, I delegate,” Wood said. “That was hard for my father because in his generation, they did it all. No one delegated.”
Growth continues
By 1996, the clinic was outgrowing its building, so Wood designed the first addition. The clinic added a computer network and associates.
Now the Lorain Animal Clinic has the equivalent of two full-time veterinarians. Based on the volume of patients and national trends for well-managed practices, statistically there should be seven doctors, Wood said.
“We’ve evolved from the previous practice, over the years, the last 30 years, to highly dependent on technicians. We really, really rely on them.”
The Lorain Animal Clinic has become a high tech practice, but it remains a family shop.
Wood’s wife, Melinda, is a veterinary technician. His brother, David, works as lead technician and kennel manager, and sister, Debbie Pihlblad, is a receptionist, while nephew Ryan Pihlblad is a technician.
Wood said the practice would not be possible without his family members.
As for the dogs and cats and lizards and birds and rabbits, the clinic has more than 27,000 clients in its system, with more than 41,000 active patients.
“We just continue to grow and grow and grow, despite my best efforts,” Wood said with a laugh.