Sandy

D. E. Larsen, DVM

Some people actually thought that I was the boss. They seldom experienced the quiet, yet solid, push from the front desk regarding the clinic’s functions. Unless they had a collection account. Her domain encompassed all things not related to medicine. And most of the time, things ran like a well-oiled machine.

I had completed an exam on a cat with a bite wound that was brought in by new clients. The young couple was at the counter settling the bill with Sandy.

“We just moved to town,” Steve said. “I’m with the Forest Service. We will be looking for a house, just in case you know of anything available.”

“I don’t know of anything right now, but there are several good real estate offices between here and the Forest Service building,” Sandy said.

“Oh, and what about the app?” Steve asked as he looked at Ruth.

“Yes, I was going to pick up a job application if you have anything available,” Ruth said.

“I’m not sure what the Doctor is thinking right now,” Sandy said. “But we have been swamped. At the very least, we can keep the application on hand. Just a moment, and I will grab one.”

Sandy retrieved the application from the file cabinet in my office and chatted with Ruth a bit as she handed it to her.

“I will get it filled out and drop it off in the morning,” Ruth said as they made their way out the door.

Sandy stood, watching the young couple load the cat carrier into their car and pull out of the parking lot.

“I think we should hire her,” Sandy said as she sat back down. 

“You don’t know anything about her,” I said.

“They just moved to town, with a couple of young kids, and he works for the Forest Service,” Sandy said. “I would guess they will be here for a long time.”

“How do you gather all of that in a couple of minutes?” I asked. “You know, they are probably from California.”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s a girl thing,” Sandy said. “I just have a good feeling about her. I think you should hire her. You’re a good teacher. You can teach her everything she needs to do the job. And you worry too much about people from California.”

The following morning, Ruth dropped off her completed employment application. She spent ten or fifteen minutes talking with Sandy before leaving after Sandy told her we would give her a call after I had a chance to review the application.

When I had a brief break, Sandy handed me Ruth’s application

“You might want to review this,” Sandy said as she handed me the application.

“Is there anything in it that might change your mind?” I asked.

“No, it looks fine to me,” Sandy said. “I think we should hire her.”

“Why do you want me to review it then?” I asked. “You don’t think I would be able to overrule you, do you?”

“Then it is okay for me to call her and offer her a job?” Sandy asked.

“I thought you had already made that decision,” I said.

Ruth started work at the beginning of the following week. Initially, Sandy had her working on the front desk. We were in a period of transition in our record-keeping, and things were new to everyone.

Office computers were becoming practical for small offices. However, veterinary software was still out of reach for small-town practices. At the recommendation of a practice management advisor, I had added a computerized cash register, and we had a new Macintosh computer to keep track of client and patient numbers.

“I guess this new stuff is okay,” Sandy said. “But if we are going to have all this stuff in the cash register and on the computer, I want to make sure we keep a paper copy of everything.”

“Do you realize how much extra work that will require?” I asked.

“I don’t care, that is the way it is going to be done,” Sandy said as she turned and walked out of my office.

Of course, for the next thirty years, that is how it was done. There were a couple of times when it proved to be a good practice.

When she started work, Ruth confessed that she had never worked with a computer before.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “The Mac is very intuitive. By the end of the day, you will be an old pro.”

One morning, a few weeks later, I noticed Ruth frantically searching through the computer desktop screen.

“Are you having a problem?” I asked.

“I don’t know what I did,” Ruth said with some tension in her voice. “I can’t find the client list.” 

I looked through the computer’s desktop. The client list was gone. 

“It’s gone,” I said. “You must have deleted it, somehow.”

“Oh no!” Ruth said. “What are we going to do now?”

“No problem,” I said as I retrieved the backup floppy disc from the drawer. “I back this computer up every night. I will restore the file, then you have to reenter the new files from this morning by using Sandy’s paper copies.”

That proved to be a good lesson for Ruth and for me. I hated to admit that Sandy’s paper backups served a useful role, and I never skipped an evening backup on the computer. Ruth learned to be more careful before clicking random buttons.

“Jim just called from Foster,” Ruth said to Sandy. “He is on his way with his cat. He says she has an abscess that just broke open.”

“Let’s check that file,” Sandy said. “I think Jim is a collection account from when we just started business. In fact, he might have been our first collection.”

Sandy had to go into the back to the old files, but she returned with Jim’s file. It had numerous red ink markings.

About that time, Jim came through the door. He had the cat wrapped in a towel. The towel was smeared with pus and blood.

“This cat needs some help, right away,” Jim said with tears welling up in his eyes.

“We have a little problem to settle first,” Sandy said with little emotion in her voice. “You have an unpaid balance from back in 1976. That has to be paid before services are available for you at this clinic.”

“That’s almost ten years ago,” Jim said. “I thought you were supposed to purge your records after seven years.”

“That might happen in some clinics, but it doesn’t happen here,” Sandy said as she sat down and busied herself straightening up the old file.

“How much do I owe?” Jim asked.

“With the collection fees, the total is one hundred and thirty dollars,” Sandy said. “And that doesn’t include any interest charges. If you pay it today, I’ll waive the interest charges. Otherwise, I will update the file, and you will also owe for the interest.”

“Okay, I have enough to pay the old bill,” Jim said. “Then I can charge today’s bill.

“It doesn’t work that way, Jim,” Sandy said. “The doctor trusted you with a handshake, and you have made no effort to pay this old bill. If you had paid five dollars a month, this would have been resolved years ago. Now, if you want the doctor to take care of your cat’s problem, you have to pay the old bill and the estimate for today in advance.”

“That’s hardly fair,” Jim said, his tears wiped away with the back of his bloodied hand. “All you guys worry about is the money.”

“The next clinic is fifteen miles down the road,” Sandy said. “I would suggest you call before you arrive. We have to pay wages, rent, medication costs, and make enough profit to feed the kids. If we don’t do that, we won’t be able to stay in business to help people who pay their bills. When you don’t pay, you are stealing from every one of our clients, not just from us.”

“I can’t go down the road,” Jim said. “I owe them money, too.

“That is not a surprise,” Sandy said, her voice now tiring of the conversation. “In that case, you had better hurry, Albany is over thirty miles.”

“Okay, I’ll go talk with my wife,” Jim said. “How much do you think I will need? And can I leave the cat here while I talk to her?”

“No, you are not trustworthy enough to leave a sick cat here,” Sandy said. “I can’t say for sure until the doctor writes an estimate, but I would guess you will need two hundred and fifty dollars, at least.”

Jim took his cat and went to speak with his wife. 

“What is going to happen to his cat if he doesn’t have the money?” Ruth asked.

“Most abscesses will heal on their own,” Sandy said. “It just takes a lot longer and puts the cat through a lot more pain. He probably can’t go to Albany either. In the last ten years, he has probably had a collection account with every veterinarian in the county. It’s the family names you will learn. Our collection accounts are filled with a dozen family groups. It is a lifestyle, they don’t pay for anything until their back is against the wall. Jim is going to be back in a few minutes with three hundred dollar bills, you watch.”

Sure enough, Sandy and Ruth had no more than finished the conversation when Jim came back through the door.

“Okay, my wife had three hundred dollar bills,” Jim said as he handed Sandy the bills. “If I can leave the cat, I assume he will be ready in the morning, and we can do the receipts when I pick him up.”

“Let’s have the doctor get a look at him first,” Sandy said.

I examined Jim’s cat, Tom. He had an open abscess that just needed to be cleaned up and some antibiotics. His main problem was his set of testicles. 

“I can take care of this abscess and send you home with some antibiotics for Tom and some change in your pocket,” I said. “If I do that, you will be back with another abscess before summer comes. Since you are clearing up an old bill, I can make you a deal. I will throw in some brain surgery and vaccinations, and keep the total under the three hundred you put on account. There won’t be much change, but you might be able to buy a beer or two.”

“What do you mean by brain surgery, Doc?” Jim asked. 

“If we neuter Tom, it will change the way he looks at the world,” I said. “He is still a young tomcat, so his fighting days will probably be behind him. If we leave those testicles, he is going to continue to be out there fighting with the boys. Tomcats tend to have a lot of infections, and in the end, they don’t live very long.”

“You will do that for me, after I didn’t pay my bill years ago?” Jim asked.

“See how good things happen when you become a responsible pet owner,” I said. “Your neighbors are probably going to be happy when Tom is neutered and quits beating up their cats.”

“Okay, do what you need to do, and I will be back in the morning to pick him up,” Jim said. “And you might want to apologize to the lady out front for me. I gave her a bit of a hard time, trying to get something for nothing.”

“Sandy is a pretty tough girl,” I said. “My bet she gave it right back to you.”

“Yes, she did a good job at that, alright,” Jim said. “I will speak to her when I leave. Thanks, Doc!”

Jim stopped at the front counter as he was leaving.

“Sandy, I’m sorry I was so ornery earlier,” Jim said. “You and the Doc are okay. I’ll be back in the morning.”

Ruth smiled as Jim went out the door.

“My, what a change of character,” Ruth said. “I wonder what brought that on?”

So, Tom went home in the morning with his wound cleaned and an entirely new man. A few days of antibiotics and he was as good as new. Many would say better.

As our computer use in the practice progressed, we continued to maintain a paper backup of all our work. It seemed unnecessary to me, but it was not worth the battle with Sandy. We did shorten the time we maintained the paper backup to about three months.

Ruth remained a valuable employee for many years. She progressed to a licensed veterinary technician before moving to Eugene.

Photo Credit: D. E. Larsen, DVM