Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Smith.
Clairmont Animal Hospital opened in August of 1990 when Dr. Smith and his wife, Denise, purchased the land and renovated the building which is now our hospital. The hospital’s present location has a very interesting past. It was the home of a locally famous Indian Medicine man, a Civil war encampment site, a 1929 private residence, an antique shop and a backpacking outfitter.
Clairmont Animal Hospital was founded on the belief that if an environment were created that provided excellent veterinary care with personalized client service, it would flourish. Initially, Dr. Smith was the sole veterinarian on staff and had a support staff of only two. The rapid growth to our present size is due to many factors, including years of dedication, hard work, and sacrifice, an excellent and committed staff, and referrals from their clients.
Clairmont Animal Hospital is a full-service hospital providing complete medical and surgical services as well as boarding and grooming facilities. Although their patients are primarily dogs and cats, Dr. Smith is also licensed to treat wildlife. They take pride in their professional veterinary staff as well as their experienced and dedicated team of support staff.
Has it been a smooth road?
When Denise & Mike initially decided to open an animal hospital, they had no prior experience with starting a small business. Denise was a professional violinist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Mike had worked as a staff veterinarian for eight years in Florida and Georgia. They looked at approximately sixty sites throughout the Metro Atlanta area and decided on the present location for the animal hospital.
At that time, there was no commercial properties with the proper zoning so Denise & Mike went knocking door to door inquiring if anyone would consider selling their property. The current location of the hospital was a very rustic backpacking shop with no heat or air conditioning. It was in horrible shape, but they imagined that it could be a wonderful location for a future animal hospital.
Denise & Mike didn’t have enough collateral to get a small business loan at the time. They approached dozens of banks and were turned down repeatedly. They eventually found a bank that would use Denise’s antique violin as collateral for their business loan.
After a quick renovation of the building, Dr. Smith opened his doors in August of 1990 with two staff members. We have grown to a staff of eight veterinarians and a support staff of thirty employees.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Clairmont Animal Hospital – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Clairmont Animal Hospital is a full-service hospital providing complete medical and surgical services as well as boarding and grooming facilities. Although our patients are primarily dogs and cats, Dr. Smith is also licensed to treat wildlife. We take pride in our professional veterinary staff as well as our experienced and dedicated team of support staff.
Clairmont Animal Hospital voluntarily belongs to the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), an organization that sets the highest standards in the world for premier veterinary care. As a condition of membership, we routinely submit to frequent and thorough inspections of our facility, equipment, and record-keeping capabilities. We constantly modernize our laboratory, x-ray, medical and surgical departments, as well as subscribe to rigid nursing care and housekeeping requirements in order to maintain our status at AAHA’s highest level.
At Clairmont Animal Hospital, our primary focus is on providing quality veterinary care and personalized customer service. We are morally and ethically committed to fulfilling the needs of our clients and patients with scientifically progressive equipment and procedures in a professional and compassionate setting.
We pride ourselves on being able to handle both routine and complex surgical and medical cases. Dr. Smith has extensive training in advanced orthopedic surgery and minimally invasive surgery including laparoscopy, otoscopy, rhinoscopy, and cystoscopy. By utilizing these advanced techniques, we’re able to perform procedures thru tiny incisions and allow the patients to recover much quicker and with less discomfort than with traditional surgery. We have patients travel long distances to have these procedures performed from NY City to Miami.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the diversity that Atlanta has. We see clients who work at the CDC, Emory University, Georgia Tech and Georgia State University. Our clients have such wonderful stories. They love their pets and are fully committed to doing everything in their power to give them the best care.
The traffic is definitely a negative.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1226 Clairmont Road Decatur, Georgia 30030
- Website: www.clairmontanimalhospital.com
- Phone: 404 633-6163
- Email: clairmontanimalhospital@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/clairmontanimalhospital/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/ClairmontAH
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/clairmont-animal-hospital-decatur-2
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