New veterinarian to ease animal-care shortage Man plans to open part-time office in Medway

MEDWAY – Think of it as a giant house call.

Veterinarian Dr. Donald J. Volk plans to open a part-time satellite office to partially alleviate the veterinary services shortage in the Katahdin region at Hafford Financial Services on Route 157 by June 1.

“I think it will be a win-win for the public and for me,” Volk said Monday.

Two volunteers – Alyce Maragus of the Millinocket Community Action Committee, a residents’ economic and community development effort; and Lisa McLaughlin of the Millinocket Area Growth and Investment Council – have been working since February to draw a veterinarian to Katahdin, but Volk’s efforts to expand his Timberland Animal Hospital from Orono precedes theirs, he said.

Volk dates his interest in moving northward to late last summer, when gasoline prices skyrocketed to the $3 per gallon mark.

For his Katahdin clients, “60 miles one way in the cars that they have, which are not necessarily energy efficient, is a lot of money,” Volk said. “It’s a lot more efficient for me to drive up there and see as many clients as I can for two days a week than for them to come to me.

“A great part of my business comes down from there, so I wind up hearing that there’s a great need,” he added.

His receptionist, Donna Garand, worked for Dr. Grant R. Brees, who inadvertently precipitated the veterinary services shortage in the Katahdin and Lincoln Lakes regions when in July 2005 he closed his North Woods Animal Clinic after decades of service in East Millinocket.

Garand’s knowledge of the client base in Katahdin, which was about 1,800 clients and 300 office visits a month for Brees, will help make his satellite practice go, he said. She brought many clients with her when she started working for Volk.

Garand and Volk will staff a mobile home that landlord Hollis Hafford plans to install on his lot. Their hours will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Volk is taking calls at 746-5255, his new Medway office number, to discuss client care in Katahdin and Lincoln Lakes, but is not accepting appointments there until the office is closer to ready for opening, he said.

About $40,000 in veterinary equipment, computers and a more fuel-efficient vehicle already are ordered or on-hand, he said.

Hafford was not available for comment on Monday.

Maragus was glad to hear of Volk’s decision to move, but doubted that a part-time vet would solve pet owners’ problems in Katahdin.

“We still, in my opinion, need a full-time vet and I would hope that once he sees the need that he will find somebody to stay up here full time,” Maragus said Monday.

McLaughlin referred comment on the matter to Maragus.

Maragus and McLaughlin had been in discussions with another vet to move into Katahdin, but that doctor lacked finances for the move, Maragus said. Maragus and McLaughlin are due to meet on April 10, she said.

Veterinarians are rare in rural areas nationwide. A Google Internet search revealed 11 veterinarians or clinics listed through the Bangor area, from Corinth to Newport and Ellsworth, with another eight in or near Presque Isle and Houlton.

But only one vet, Dr. Joseph Nesin, practices within easy reach of Katahdin and Lincoln Lakes. He is in Chester and has about 6,000 clients, he has said – a staggering load.

Volk’s hospital has more than 3,000 clients, he said.

Volk will take as many new clients as he can handle at his new office, and hasn’t ruled out recruiting another veterinarian to Orono or Medway, he said.

Volk wants to recruit a new veterinarian to staff his hospital part time while he is in Medway. His idea: To partner with a Bangor-area veterinarian and create enough part-time work between both practices to give a recruit full-time employment, he said.