Big Changes! A Letter From Dr. Phelps

As many of you know, we are embarking on another adventure with the opening of Spruce Veterinary Care, an urgent care clinic in Hillsboro, OR, in early 2025. As we announced this new clinic, we’ve received many questions about what I am going to do and how that would affect BYVH. I’ve been letting my clients know that I will be stepping away from my normal schedule here at Brooklyn Yard starting in October, but will still be present covering shifts at the clinic and continuing to refine our practice and culture.

I will be operating in a bit of a different capacity for the next year or so and will not be regularly seeing clients at Brooklyn Yard until likely next Spring or Summer. I will be physically present to support all of our new staff, including our new veterinarian Dr. Godwin, and will focus on making sure our upcoming scheduling changes to have more appointment availability are working well. I love clinical practice but also realize I need to focus on supporting Brooklyn Yard Vet after 5 years of finding our niche in the Portland veterinary space. Additionally, there is the work of opening Spruce Veterinary Urgent Care (it will be easier the second time around, right?!).

I emphatically believe that we have some of the best veterinarians in Portland. Our support staff is amazing and has wholeheartedly embraced our mission statement. I have surrounded myself with some pretty phenomenal humans. We will continue to support all patients, including those animals that have a tougher time in a veterinary setting (and in life). This aspect of our practice is of paramount importance to all of us.

We will continue to be involved in our community. We will continue to evolve and strive to provide a supportive and inclusive culture for our staff. We will continue to operate as an independent and locally owned clinic in a sea of corporate and private-equity group owned veterinary hospitals. While Spruce Veterinary Urgent Care will be an entirely separate hospital and an entirely different practice model, I truly hope we can emulate some of the aspects of BYVH that make it so special.

I have every intention of returning to some level of regular clinical practice at Brooklyn Yard as soon as I can, and we all thank you for your support during this season of change.

We wouldn't be here without you!

With gratitude,

Alayson Phelps, DVM