Specialty Veterinary Services at the Chicago Center for Veterinary Medicine
Why Refer to Us?
Expertise: Specialty veterinary service at the Chicago Center for Veterinary Medicine combines two powerhouses of expertise and service: the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, one of the nation’s premier veterinary institutions, and Veterinary Specialty Center, the Chicago region’s most established specialty hospital. Veterinary Specialty Center (VSC) and the College of Veterinary Medicine share a commitment to excellent patient care and service to clients and referring veterinarians as well as a common interest in education, public outreach, and investigation.
Service: You and your clients can trust the skill and service-orientation available at a state-of-the-art facility in an easy-access Chicago location. The Chicago Center for Veterinary Medicine is staffed 24 hours a day for emergency and critical care service, with on-site veterinary and certified veterinary technician staff at all times.
Every specialty referral case will be managed by an experienced veterinarian with advanced training and, in most cases, board certification from a specialty organization.
Referring veterinarians and clients will always be included as vital members of the care team. To ensure continuity of care, referring veterinarians will receive a written report within 24 hours of when their patient is seen or discharged. In addition, the veterinarian on the case is available to consult by phone regarding your patient.
Trust: Patients seen through the emergency or specialty referral services will never be accepted for primary care service at the Chicago clinic location. Outstanding service to referring veterinarians will not be compromised in that way.
Download our specialty referral brochure
Our Specialty Services
Advanced Surgery | Behavior| Emergency Services | Internal Medicine | Oncology
Advanced Surgery
Dr. Mitch Robbins and Dr. Paula West from VSC bring vast experience in collaborative care and excellent surgical case management that keeps the referring veterinarian. Appointments for oncologic, orthopedic, soft tissue, and other surgeries are available. Surgeons are assisted by certified technicians trained to monitor and administer anesthesia by a board-certified anesthesiologist.
Behavior
Dr. Kelly Ballantyne has years of experience and training under the mentorship of board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. John Ciribassi of Chicagoland Veterinary Behavior Consultants. Dr. Ballantyne invites referrals for counseling and in-depth consultations for behavior problems such as separation anxiety, fears and phobias, aggression, house-soiling problems, and compulsive disorders. Her approach is to determine causes and potential management strategies focusing on positive pet-owner interactions.
Download a brochure for you clients
Emergency and Critical Care
The Chicago Center for Veterinary Medicine is prepared to assist your critical care patient for 24/7 monitoring by veterinarians. The facility is equipped with oxygen cages and offers ECG, blood pressure monitoring, chest tube/feeding tube placement, temporary tracheotomy tube placement, urinary catheter placement, and central line placement. On-site laboratory capabilities include serum chemistry, hematology, serology, urinalysis, and parasite testing. The on-site pharmacy maintains a complete inventory of oral and injectable medications and pain management/anesthesia, including general anesthesia, injections, and oral sedation.
On-site digital X-ray and ultrasound imaging is backed by immediate access to University of Illinois veterinary imaging experts. Referring veterinarians can receive digital transfer of images for follow-up care of their patients.
Become a partner clinic and when your critical care patients are transferred for round-the-clock care, your clients will not be charged the patient transfer fee. Please call ahead to confirm when that you are referring your client to receive this fee waiver.
Internal Medicine
Dr. Thomas Graves and Dr. Mimi Noonan are board-certified in small animal internal medicine and offer over 30 years of combined experience. Areas of interest include endocrinology, gastroenterology, immune-mediated disease, infectious disease, hematology, pulmonary medicine, and urology.
Oncology
Dr. Rhonda Feinmehl works with referring veterinarians and owners to develop personalized treatment plans for each patient, based on type of cancer, treatment goals, and the pet’s needs. Diagnostic, supportive, and treatment services include advanced laboratory testing of blood or tissue biopsies; diagnostic imaging through ultrasound, radiography, and CT; chemotherapy; surgery; nutritional support; and pain management.
Please send clients with diagnostics, including cytology or histology if available; most recent radiographs (hard copy or digital); ultrasound reports; and copy of the most recent blood work.
Making a Referral
Download a patient referral form
To make an appointment or obtain further information, please contact the Chicago Center for Veterinary Medicine at 312.226.3641 (phone), (312.226.2594 (fax) or by e-mail at ccvmspecialty@vetmed.illinois.edu
