The Animal Emergency Clinic of Springfield is doubling the size of its location and staff to accommodate a growing case load.
“I’ve been the AEC manager since 2017,” Dr. Tom Antonini told SBJ in May when expansion plans were first announced. “At that time, we had 4,000 cases a year, and our case load has gone up tremendously since then. Now it’s closer to 9,000.”
In addition to a boom in pet ownership, Antonini noted that “a lot of area vets don’t do emergency work anymore. The outlying communities used to have local vets that would take calls, and now we get cases referred to us all the way from Macomb.”
The AEC will reopen at 821 S. Durkin Dr. on Nov. 15 following a closure Nov. 14 to allow time for the move. The new facility, which was a renovation-to-suit by Joyner Construction of the former Rapps Engineering building, includes six exam rooms, a surgical suite and large treatment area.
Antonini said at 5,200 square feet, it is twice as large as the space the AEC currently occupies, plus it will allow room for future growth. The AEC has been at its current location, 1333 W. Wabash Ave., since 1992.
The AEC has recently hired additional veterinarians and now has a total of seven vets on staff: Dr. Bailey Davis, Dr. Jessica Carie, Dr. Joel Metzler, Dr. Julie Myers, Dr. Sheryl Vandiver, Dr. Gary Minder and Dr. Cheryl Rosenfield.
“We’ve been very fortunate that we are fully staffed, so we’ll have two vets per shift,” said Antonini. The AEC is operational when most veterinary clinics are closed, from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weeknights, plus 24 hours a day on weekends and holidays.
“We’re looking forward to serving the community and seeing a lot more pets,” said Antonini.
