Careers at LazyPaw

Carey Withy, LVT, CVPM

Carey built a career in the trenches as a LVT before earning her CVPM. Since her promotion into the Executive Team Carey has developed her own management style. She prides herself in being deliberate and collecting all the information in lieu of making rash decisions. She won’t be the floor manager who blows into the treatment area hollering at everyone that they are moving slow. She will dive in and help out in the immediate chaos. Later she will diagnose the root cause of the breakdown, often with heavy input from her team. Instead of grinding through daily chaos Carey deploys a solution fixing the root cause and creating a healthier day to day workplace.

Carey is process and technique driven. She builds protocols, manuals, checklists and creates repeatable systems so that we are not constantly reinventing the wheel. Carey’s influence keeps us consistent from tech to tech and vet to vet. Finally Carey builds teams with clear direction and lines of authority.

Carey’s working style is quick and deliberate. She moves fast, without rushing and doesn’t make mistakes.

PS: She does the difficult job of Inventory Management. The job where nobody says thank you but they sure do complain if something is on back order.

Becca Bunker, CVPM

Becca began her career as a receptionist, client coordinator or whatever the term dejour is these days. She was promoted quickly to the Executive Team because of her clear vision. She knows instinctively that the reception team and customer service is the most important aspect of the veterinary clinic. The first and last person a client interacts with is a member of the reception team. They are the primary translator of all the medical jargon thrown at clients by vets and techs.

She understands that it doesn’t matter how talented your medical team is because if the reception team can’t make clients happy nobody is going to see patients. Becca creates a client centric environment from the first phone call to helping the big old lab into the SUV. She examines every client interaction from the client’s point of view. How does the client see this? How can we do better by this pet owner?

Becca’s management style has evolved dramatically over the years. As she will readily admit she began as a “my way or the highway” kind of manager. She learned the hard way that doesn’t work at LazyPaw. She evolved into a mentoring type manager by seeing herself through her staff’s perspective. Now she wants her team to understand why things are done. By understanding “the why” the team is able to communicate clearly.

PS: Becca is a skilled Veterinary Assistant who can jump in anytime the need arises. She is the creative force behind the client education library.

Julaine Hunter, DVM, ABVP

Dr. Hunter is Chief Medical Officer and a practicing veterinarian. As CMO she sets the medical standards and creates the surgical protocols. Dr. Hunter has the first and final say on every new drug, diagnostic test and procedure introduced into the practice. She manages through regular veterinary meetings also attended by senior technical staff. When it comes to new medications, vaccine protocols or procedures you can count on Dr. Hunter doing her homework. She doesn’t just read the fancy peer reviewed article, she will call the authors and talk to other veterinarians currently using the new tool. She does the heavy lifting of research long before a new product enters our pharmacy.

Dr. Hunter’s practice style can be described in one word, thorough. She covers every base and makes sure pet owners understand every potential twist and turn. She is an excellent surgeon, chooses the right diagnostics and builds treatment plans that actually work.

Hunter’s mentoring style reflects her practice style. When you are mentored by her you will be reading much more than an internet image search. She will actually teach you one on one. She will teach you the thought process of the experienced clinician teaching you to navigate the rough waters solving medical problems. Dr. Hunter is more of a personal professor than a mentor, I count that as an upgrade.

PS: Ask her about pet obesity then fasten your seat belt for an awesome rant.

Brent Bilhartz, DVM

I am Dr. Bilhartz (I go by Dr. B) and I wear two hats at LazyPaw. I am a practicing veterinarian in addition to being the President/CFO, Chief Financial Officer. As the CFO I pay the bills and set budgets. The job of the President is simple. I am accountable to and responsible for mistakes made by the team while celebrating all their many successes. As the chair of the Executive Committee I ensure that our family culture stays functional, never drifting into disorder and focusing on the client’s perspective when they interact with our little company.

As practicing veterinarian I follow the standards of care set by Dr. Hunter and the team protocols built by Becca and Carey. In general I enjoy the wellness and medicine part of the practice. I’m surrounded by outstanding surgeons and that allows me to focus on preventive medicine, complicated diagnostics and medical treatment plans, my true interest.

I have different approach to mentoring than the current culture seams to demand. I expect you to be good at the job that you are trained to do and when you’re poor at it I’m disappointed. I don’t hold hands I give you infinite resources both in house and through continuing education to learn. If you are a self-starter who can do solid, above average work we are going to get along just fine.