JVMS Minutes - November 13, 2008
The meeting was held at Maggiano’s, located in the Town Center Shopping Center. Dr. Rick Sutliff called the meeting to order. Last meeting’s minutes were distributed and are also available at www.jvms.org.
Old Business
FVMA News: Dr. Nick Kapustin and Dr. Sharron Hoffman were both awarded a Gold Star Award from the FVMA at the annual meeting in October.
Review of Animal Care and Control: The review was performed by 13 veterinarians from the University of Florida and the UC Davis Shelter Medicine Programs. The reviewers' primary concern was overcrowding. Per the reviewers' recommendations, the shelter will be opened to the Jacksonville Humane Society and all of AC and C’s affiliated rescue groups (Pet Placement Partners). These organizations will be able to rescue any pet of interest. AC and C has requested that the rescue be completed on or very close to the pet’s due out date so that the shelter is not being used as a boarding facility. The adoptions program will remain the same. As a result of this new rescue initiative, the population at AC and C has remained at or below 300 for several weeks. Cleaning and disinfection are the next major concern currently being addressed at the shelter. The report will be completed before the end of the year and it will be available on the JVMS website.
Committee Reports
Christmas Party Committee: Dr. Tracy LaDue announced the JVMS Annual Holiday Fest on December 6th from 7-11pm at Bella Serra. Dr. Esser is also on the holiday party committee. So far there are only 20 RSVP's which is not enough! Please RSVP and send your payment along with the reply. The ticket price has been reduced to be more affordable with the JVMS and industry sponsors providing funding. The committee will be phoning members who have not responded to the invitation. There will be lots of live music, vendors and raffles so please come!!
CE Committee: Dr. Winter was not present, however, there are lots of good programs expected. If you have any ideas, please email drwinter@petcancercare.com.
Shelter Liaison Committee: Dr. McKnight will be taking over as the JVMS AC & C liaison; the JVMS is still working on licensing issues with AC & C. Financial data from AC & C has been requested, but it has not yet been received. In addition, Dr. Sutliff mentioned that AC & C has not been picking up is clinic’s forms and payments in a timely fashion. Two questions regarding the licensing of pets were asked: first, why is it not yet possible to renew on-line and second, when will enforcement of the program be instituted?
JHS Liaison Committee: A proposal was mad for a new committee to provide separate liaisons for AC & C and JHS. Therefore a new outreach person will be needed. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Dr. Sutliff at inc9170@bellsouth.net. It was noted that Dr. Broadhurst (the JHS Staff veterinarian) is a member of the JVMS.
Peer Review Committee: No incident have been reported since the last meeting. It was suggested that there should be public access to contact information for this committee on the website. Doctors or pet owners should contact Dr. Gordon at Mandarin Animal Hospital at 731-5341 if the committee is needed.
Award Committee: Nominations are needed by December. Please contact Dr. Acree at ha371@aol.com.
Website Committee: There was a suggestion to make the website more accessible to the general pet-owning population. A mission statement page was requested. Another suggestion was made to provide pet care information for the public to peruse. It would probably preferable to provide links to some of the many existing sites for this purpose. It was agreed that the website is primarily for JVMS members, however.
New Business
Pet Amnesty Day at the Jacksonville Zoo: It was on November 22 from 10 - 2 pm. The purpose was to give the owners of exotic pets a chance to safely relinquish exotic pets. This is an effort to prevent release of non-native species into the wild which can cause significant ecological problems. Relinquished pets were also available for adoption by qualified individuals. Five JVMS veterinarians volunteered to help with exams for this event.
Standard of Care concerns: Dr. Sutliff initiated a discussion regarding the standard of care, specifically in Duval County. Some questions were raised. Should the cost of care dictate how we practice medicine? Can we be held liable if owners decline treatment due to expense? In addition, how does the standard of care in human medicine play a role in how we practice veterinary medicine? Dr. Hashey stated that from her experience teaching nurses at JU, it has been shown that Standards of Care written by physicians have been used against them by insurance companies and courts of law. Therefore, it is probably best to allow the FVMA to handle this issue.
Next JVMS Meeting: Thursday January 9th at 7pm
If you have suggestions regarding where the next meeting should be held, please email Dr. Niessen at kniessen@coj.net. Max’s Restaurant at the beach was proposed as a possible site. We will notify members of the location as soon as the final decision is made.
Dr. Kim Niessen, Secretary
Dr. Cindy Miller, Treasurer