Recipient Organization
WELLFARM VETERINARY CONSULTANTS PLLC
355 ELM AVE SW
ROANOKE,VA 24016
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Wellfarm Vets is an emerging food animal ambulatory practice operating out of Roanoke County, Virginia. The practice was started in the summer of 2022 by a veterinarian that spent the previous two years in a production medicine internship and residency at the nearby referral resource, Virginia Tech Veterinary Teaching Hospital. This experience cultivated a foundational, enduring relationship with the local animal agricultural community. The shortage area of VA006 has been lacking food animal veterinary services for so long that producers self-reportedly underutilize veterinary resources due to a lack of accessibility and reliability. Wellfarm Vets is requesting VSGP RPE funds for subsidization of a haul-in facility and support staff salary as well as safe and humane handling equipment and diagnostic analyzers for in-house and on-farm cattle procedures. This blend of administrative and technical support will enhance the practice's ability to serve the community in an accelerated time-frame at an appropriate standard of veterinary care. These resources would otherwise not be able to be obtained for 5-10 years of practice, which would prolong the marginalization of rural producers to veterinary education, access, and support. As Wellfarm Vets' veterinary services expand in this region, producers have been keen to establish VCPRs, improve their herd's health and productivity, and have a reliable resource for emergency situations. The more rapid evolution of this practice will permit a more rapid evolution of regional animal production as it aligns with the goals of the VSGP.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The goal of Wellfarm Vets is to provide access to veterinary care for all food supply animals in the region. Not every producer seeks veterinary care, and not every producer that seeks veterinary care has a willingness to pay. However, for those producers that pursue veterinary services, Wellfarm Vets should be able to serve them at a sufficient standard of production management and medicine, which resolutely supports NIFA & USDA's goals of "developing, implementing, and sustaining food and large animal veterinary services, and relieving large animal veterinary shortages in the US."Expanding veterinary access in shortage areas VA233 and VA235 can be achieved by providing the equipment & resources necessary to reduce barriers to vet care for rural producers to achieve the following objectives over the three-year grant period:Increase virtual accessibility of a veterinary professionals - hiring a support team member will enhance client communications, decrease calls sent to voicemail, decrease times to fill online prescriptions and answer general questions not requiring a physical exam or VCPR, and increase scheduling capacity and client engagement.Increase physical accessibility of veterinary professionals - decreasing administrative demands of the practitioner increases the acceptable case load, telehealth consultations, and time for community education and outreach.Increase capacity and rapidity of veterinary services - having an established location allows for ease of access to products and medications for clients without requiring a travel fee, more accessible and affordable processing of lab samples, increasing the acceptable case load with in-house appointments, decreasing costs to clients with non-mandatory trip fees, and boosts safety with humane handling and reputable herd work facilities.The specific year 1, 2 and 3 goals are enumerated in the Project Timetable, below. Wellfarm Vets goals are based on client number, patient number, and case number, as well as monitoring those per associate should another associate join the practice in year 2 as anticipated. Year 3 goals foresee the acquisition of owned land for the facility and an additional fully equipped veterinary truck. Long term, Wellfarm Vets hopes to improve quality of food animals produced in the region, which will be tracked and verified through VQA programs, NAHMS statistics, and data from local livestock markets on meat grades.
Project Methods
Approach:?The long-term deficiency of food animal veterinary within the identified areas of concern has caused rural farm animal producers to adapt without veterinary access. Many of the producers encountered in this area have been on their own for so long that they "doctor" their own animals and confidently express that they do not use a veterinarian because no veterinarian is available when they need one. This is an unfortunate recourse for a chronic lack of animal health experts in the region. Adjusting this mindset will take time, effort, and resources to reduce barriers to accessing veterinary care.Wellfarm Vets' business plan to address this culture of agricultural self-sufficiency is multifactorial: 1) increase virtual access, 2) increase physical access, and 3) increase capacity and rapidity of services. Resources are being requested through this NIFA RPE Grant for subsidizing the pay of a support staff team member, subsidizing rent for an established location to provide products and services, purchasing a humane livestock handling facility for up to 100 head of cattle, purchasing portable cattle chute for farm calls with hoof trimming capacities, and purchasing a hematology and chemistry analyzer for in-house laboratory diagnostics and more rapid treatment capacity.Access cannot be achieved until rural producers are aware of the presence of veterinary services and realize the potential for veterinary services to enhance their animal production. Wellfarm Vets will continue to address this through local cattleman's associations (Botetourt Cattleman's Association, Virginia Cattleman's Association), small ruminant groups (Sheep & Goat Club of the New River Valley), and agricultural extension offices for each county. Dr. Varnell already has relationships with these groups and extension agents and has spoken about veterinary services to these groups in both Botetourt and Bedford counties. The Roanoke-Hollins Stockyard is a primary hub for information dissemination. This livestock market is serviced weekly by Wellfarm Vets. A mutually beneficial relationship is being cultivated; the market advertised the importance of a VCPR for veterinary services, and the practice provides a steady presence and resource for attending farmers. To application date, Wellfarm Vets' presence at this stockyard has led to new client's preventative medical care of 90 beef cattle, and new client's emergency treatment of 7 beef cattle.The large rural shortage area can require 1-2-hour drives to farms with travel fees exceeding professional hourly rates at that distance, causing clients to decline services. About half of these clients would be willing to haul their animal into a facility if one existed to reduce costs. Since opening in July 2022, 10,000 miles have been driven for farm calls, or 62.5 miles per working day on average which can equate to 2hr/day on mountain roads or 10hr/week. Funding is being requested for office/facility rental to increase the accessibility of the practice for clients without facilities of their own, or for whom a travel fee is cost prohibitive. This feature will increase accessibility of physical veterinary services, and increase client, patient, and case numbers for the practice.There are additional limitations in the clients and case load this sole practitioner can currently take on due to time required to manage the business and complete administrative tasks, e.g. a morning case that requires a CBC/Chemistry to be mailed out takes an additional 1.5 hours of time to come "home", spin the sample, package it for overnight shipping, print the label, and take the sample to the shipping service. This time could be saved two-fold: 1) in-house analyzers, and 2) a support staff member responsible for practice management and technical assistance. Funds are being requests for both resources to increase efficiency and standard of care. The practice currently sends full blood work labs to either ViTALS at Virginia Tech ($60-$80), or the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services ($50-$60), but even overnight shipping of these samples can lead to weeklong delays in attaining results. The alternative labs with more rapid turnaround are usually cost prohibitive for clients, i.e., IDEXX ($90-$140). This practice is requesting a standalone Chemistry and Hematology Analyzer unit for point of care systemic health interpretation of sick patients (~250 individual tests, respectively, to repay investment). The sensitivity of the chute side devices currently employed by Wellfarm Vets are insufficient to make any diagnoses or clinical decisions with certainty; these tests are meant to be supportive of physical exam findings and clinical history, but not supportive of empirical therapy choices. Therefore, the requested analyzer devices are considered core required equipment to be a fully serviceable food supply vet for this shortage area.Wellfarm Vets is requesting facility rent assistance of $800/month for the 36-month period. This would subsidize average rental rates for researched facilities plus utilities by approximately 50%. The practice is also requesting funds for a Bud Box Corral System designed to handle up to 100 head of cattle and includes a 28" wide working alley that leads to a Model S04 Squeeze Chute with a pregnancy palpation panel. Lastly, a portable chute with hoof trimming capabilities is being requested. In this practitioner's experience, less than 2/3rds of the farms in this region have safe handling facilities for cattle. A haul-in and haul-out facility would 1) greatly enhance safety of the cattle, veterinarian, and producer, 2) increase efficiency in working the cattle, and 3) provide increased marketing, educational outreach to rural farms, and telehealth services.Wellfarm Vets uses EzyVet medical software which has advanced reporting capabilities. If afforded these requested resources, the increased access to veterinary care would be easily monitored and analyzed through 1) client numbers, 2) patient numbers, 3) case numbers, 4) product purchases & inventory turnover, & 5) preventative health appointments. All these parameters would indicate an increased utilization of veterinary services while preventative health appointments would indicate a proactive employment of veterinary expertise.These are both ambitious goals and reachable objectives with the strategic application of resources. Wellfarm Vets already has a large following on Facebook, which is the primary mode of communication for agriculture in this community. Numerous open-house events and educational events could be hosted each year if this practice were to have a standalone facility. There are several locations in mind, but the most prescient limitations for implementing this business strategy include: 1) not finding the right property for the long-term facility and office rental (need a garage and office, plus enough flat land to put the bud box and chute), and 2) a prolonged lack of willingness to pay for vet care despite increased access and decreased costs. Regardless, Wellfarm Vets will continue to remain involved in the community to both continue to promote the value of veterinary care in food animals and share its impact on agriculture.