Face masks are encouraged when visiting Veterinary Medical Center hospitals.
Client Rights & Responsibilities
When you bring your horse to the Ohio State Veterinary Medical Center for evaluation and leading-edge care, a fully-dedicated, compassionate and highly-skilled team of caregivers will devote their time to perform accurate and thorough examinations and communicate their findings and recommendations with the primary goal of improving your horse’s health.
Appointment
When you call to schedule an appointment, the Client Services staff member will ask for information to complete the registration form including information about your personal veterinarian. We consider he or she an important part of your horse’s care team because he/she can provide historical information and will be a part of your horse’s on-going care. If your personal veterinarian calls to schedule your appointment we will obtain as much information as he/she has available and we will call you for the additional information that may be needed.
When you come for the appointment please bring the name and dosage information for any medications your horse is receiving and be prepared to provide a description of the symptoms (signs), primary problem(s), and any issues or concerns that led to need for the appointment. It is also helpful if you bring, or have your personal veterinarian fax, copies of recent diagnostic test results. If a trainer, stable staff member, or transportation personnel (hauler/trucker) will be delivering your horse, please provide that individual with the information so he/she can provide it at the time of registration or provide that individual with a phone number where you can be contacted at the time of registration so we can follow up with any questions. This will help expedite and optimize evaluation and care of your horse.
Emergencies
Our hospital accepts ill and injured horses on an emergency basis 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Since we do not have an emergency veterinarian on duty in the hospital around the clock, you will need to call ahead (614-292-6661) to indicate you wish to have your horse evaluated and the estimated time of arrival. At that time, we will put you directly in touch with the equine veterinarian on-call to discuss your horse’s problem with you. If your horse needs to be transported to the hospital, the on-call veterinarian can also advise you of anything you might need to do before loading your horse or to help prepare appropriately for the transportation. While you are in transit to the Veterinary Medical Center, we ask that you call us when you are one-half hour (30 minutes) away so we can make sure our staff is in place by the time you arrive, again so we can expedite evaluation and care of your horse. If for some reasons your plans change and you will not be bringing your horse in or will not be arriving at the estimated time, we ask that you please extend the courtesy of calling to let us know.
Arrival
The Galbreath Equine Center is located on the west side of the Veterinary Medical Center building, surrounded on the West and North sides by wooden fencing. Trailers should come through the gates on Vernon Tharp Street. After parking, proceed to the entrance beside the garage door located inside the brick archway. Please follow signage to the Equine Office to register. Please DO NOT unload your animal until you have checked in. The staff will provide you further instruction about unloading.
For emergency admissions that occur between the hours of 6:00 pm and 8:00 am Monday through Friday or between 12:00 noon on Saturday and 8:00 am Monday, the drive-up process is the same but registration will take place in the lobby of the Hospital for Companion Animals. Equine registration occurs in the Large Animal Reception office on Saturdays between 8:00 am and 12:00 noon.
Registration
Please check in at the Galbreath Equine Center office as soon as you arrive. Our Client Services staff will ask you to provide a government issued ID, sign the registration form and provide answers to any questions that were left unanswered at the time the appointment was made. If a trainer, stable staff, or hauler/trucker brings your horse in, that individual will be asked to sign the registration form as your agent. For emergency admissions, you will be asked to pay the current emergency fee at the time of registration which will go toward the costs of the initial evaluation and emergency care of your horse.
Waiting Time
We pride ourselves in the thoroughness of our advanced care and the education we provide future veterinarians. Although the wait time at our facility may be a little longer than that at other veterinary care facilities because our veterinarians also teach veterinary students as they work, we ensure our patients receive the very best care. To provide the most comprehensive assessment, your horse may be examined by multiple professionals. Be assured that we will do everything we can to expedite your visit.
Services
- The Galbreath Equine Center is staffed by a team of board-certified faculty specialists, residents, interns, senior veterinary students, registered veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants.
- During your horse’s visit, you will most likely be greeted by a veterinary student and/or technician (nurse), who will ask you a series of questions regarding your horse’s illness/injury (if applicable), housing, vaccinations, diet and other relevant information. Obtaining a comprehensive history of your horse’s health, including diet, exercise, housing, vaccinations/deworming, prior illness or injury, and other related information, is a vitally important part of our approach to the assessment and care we provide. You may find that the faculty clinician or resident asks similar questions, which provides a more thorough approach. All examinations are performed under the direct supervision of or by a veterinarian.
- At the conclusion of your appointment or your horse’s hospitalization, you will be provided with a detailed, written “go-home” (discharge summary) and instructions. This will detail the results of your horse’s examination and care, and any next steps that will need to be taken by you and your primary care or family veterinarian.
- Your primary care veterinarian is a vitally important member of our patient care team and we communicate before and after our evaluation, care and discharge of your horse. In addition to telephone communication with him/her, we also will provide him/her with a copy of the discharge summary.
Payment
After your horse is initially examined, a plan will be established for further diagnostics or treatment. The veterinarian will discuss this plan with you and present you with the estimated costs for services. You are encouraged to ask questions and seek clarification if the medical explanation or the estimated costs are not clear. If you are in agreement with the recommended course of action, you will be asked to sign an estimate form. If your horse will be receiving services on an outpatient basis you will be asked to pay for services rendered at the time of discharge.
If your horse will be hospitalized, we will present and discuss the estimated costs of the recommended care with you and will request payment of 75 percent of the high-end of the estimate before we continue with your animal’s care. If your horse is brought in on an emergency basis we will keep you informed of diagnostic and treatment costs, which will be deducted from your initial payment at the time of admission and registration. As we begin to approach the amount of the initial payment made upon arrival, we will discuss what additional diagnostic and treatment is being proposed and if you agree to pursue that plan we will request providing verbal/written approval as well as additional payment, which, when added to the amount of your initial payment, will equal 60% of the high-end of the new estimated costs. At the time of discharge, if diagnostic and treatment costs are less than your payment(s), your account will be reviewed by accounting to verify all charges have posted to your account. A refund check will be issued for any credit amount due. If the initial payment, plus any subsequent payments toward the revised estimate are less than actual costs at the time of discharge you will be asked to pay the remaining balance.
If a trainer, stable staff member or hauler/trucker will be the only person with your horse at the time of discharge, that individual will be responsible for submitting your payment before we release your horse. If you elect to have us bill your credit card, you will need to make arrangements via telephone by providing us the type of credit card, the name as it appears on the card, the number, and your verbal authorization to charge the needed amount to your card.
Client Financing
Client financing is available for qualified pet owners through an independent company, Care Credit.
