Saint Francis Veterinary Center of South Jersey

Reviews 5

JE

Jen Gomolson

A week before Christmas my Mother and I rushed our dog here because he could not walk. We have been here before for emergencies before but never had an experience like this. The vet who saw us was Dr. McMilian. Firstly he walked in to the room and came off as rude. His bedside manor as I would call it was horrible. Beside the miserable look on his face he kept asking the same questions over and over and I knew I was answering them correctly. I even felt as if he was putting my vet down and shes had 28 years of experience. He knew my dog was in a lot of pain and could not walk. He was almost 14yrs old and I pretty much knew there wasnt much more I could do for him. Yet, Dr. McMilian put him thru I guess a series of test to "Find out where the pain was." Well he found it alright. First he and another girl pulled him off the cot and Toby banged his head on the end of it which the Dr. didnt seem to think nothing of. It made me mad. Then pressing inbetween the spaces of his spine causing poor Toby to cry. Then extending his leg causing him to yelp. Watching my dog clawing the air trying to get to us tore at my heart because he was such a very good dog and never deserved any of this!! I can to this day still hear the yelps and cries and even my Mother yelled out at him, "Do you have to be so rough?!!" He put Toby down and I threw my arms around him crying. He didnt deserve this!!! He was a very very good dog and would never hurt anyone! We decided to put him down. When we came back to get Tobys ashes, we talked to the girls at the front desk about our experience. They PROMISED a manager would contact us. We NEVER got a phone call. This is not how I want to remember my last experience with my good dog. Its been bothering us and bothering us. It would have been nice to get a phone call from the manager like they promised us they would.

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Jessica Kearney

I would give negative stars if I could - we took our 17 month old puppy in Tuesday night. He was in serious distress, trembling, not eating... you could tell he was in serious pain. We just didnt know where or why. I carried him into their ER - they took him from my arms and into the back. 1st they would not let me back in the room to be with him. Then the doctor came out and said he was fine... they fed him a can of wet dog food & there were no concerns. The nurse looked at me like I was crazy when I asked about the trembling & there was something wrong. The doctor asked "have you ever owned a pet before / he is fine / no worries" We paid $ 152.63, the release papers were completely BLANK - his regular veterinary was not given any information from the visit... nothing!! We called his regular vet and had his follow up appointment. Had him in & out within 40 minutes. She found he had Intervertebral Disk Disease... basically a sprained vertebrae in his neck (by doing a basic physical examination it was easy to see where the distress was coming from). She was disgusted that they did not notice in the ER... he had a fever in the ER and was not given an antibiotic. He could have simply been given an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory from the ER and not been in additional pain until his follow up appointment. If you love your pet do NOT take them here!

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Marcia

First let me say I rarely give five star reviews, it has nothing to do with the service received. Our elderly cat has been going very slowly downhill, and discussions with our regular vet led to a wait and see attitude. On a Sunday morning she suddenly could not keep her food in, and was in obvious distress - she could not get comfortable anywhere. Called the emergency number at St F and was told to come right over. The decision had already been made to not attempt any lifesaving measures - this cat had experienced a very good life, it was time to let her rest. Everyone was very kind. Paperwork was minimal and explained thoroughly. The cost was what I expected. What I did NOT expect was The Comfort Room. It is very much like a chapel, and in my emotional state it was just a trifle too much to take. Going forward, now knowing that many vet offices have such a room, I will be better prepared. Please understand it is a lovely room and the thought put into it is impressive, I was just caught off guard. As for some other reviews about the cleanliness of the building - that is so wrong; it is not new construction, and an office in which pets of all shapes and sizes (and species) are treated has to be extremely difficult to keep immaculate. We are happy with our local vet, two minutes away, otherwise I might consider using St F - a 20 minute drive.

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AL

Almetha Ford-Cottrell

I came home one evening to my dog breathing differently and not eatting and the urinating blood. She had no energy but was fine not 6 hours prior. It was the evening and our primary veterinary office was closed but they did recommend trying this emergency animal hospital. We took our dog Mama to them and they were not only awesome to Mama but my daughter felt that they really listened to her when it came to caring for Mama and what we consider "her unique personality to strangers especially in a clinic setting". The staff was attentive and patient with both pet and owner. Mama was to ill to bring home and we had to leave her at the clinic for the overnight connected to an IV and other tubes to remove all the blood in her bladder. By the next mid morning the doctor called and told us that Mama was off the IV, up walking about and eating again. We so excited to here the good new and when we went to pick her up. We saw that she was back to her happy playful self. It is never scarier then when a member of your family is ill and the rest of the family is distressed about the worst case scenarios. St. Francis animal clinic collaborated with our primary veterinarian the next morning, providing collaborative care, not to repeat recent blood work that was done. St. Francis made sure that the whole family was cared for. Thank you very much St. Francis.

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vee marshall

I took my dog their last night for an injury only because i didnt want to drive to the Delaware ER in the pouring rain. The staff was nice enough, and I too did not like the fact that they took my dog to another room for the doctor to look at her. They did take x-rays. The vet (Dr. McMillian), I did not find to be compassionate at all, and when he came into the exam room, he did not even introduce himself. When I asked the vet about how much the meds were going to cost, he told me and then said "did you want to go home without them?, which I thought was rude. No, I didnt, I just wanted to see what i was up against cost-wise. The overall cost was astronomical to say the least, but its what I had to do for my dog and im sure it would have been the same at any other emergency center. They did take her back to an exam room right away because I called, but there was a shift change so I had to wait for the doc to see her. The exam room, the floor was dirty and sticky as well as the whole facility quite frankly. I understand how hard it is to keep these facilities clean with the pets, but it was really disgusting. Overall though the treatment was appropriate and the same thing would have been done had I taken my dog to my own vet.

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