By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
In the corner of Pinehills Veterinary Hospital waiting room, a large, mixed breed dog anticipates his turn for an exam room. His tentative, anxious whines betray his tough exterior. One would think he was there for some shots, but he just needs a pedicure.
Across the room, Sally, a demure and mindful petite pup with white fur and a pink harness, wonders what the fuss is about while she waits for her allergy shot. A tired looking, longhaired gray cat requiring acute care and wrapped in a blanket in her owner’s arms enters the establishment.
These creatures, great and small, are a small selection of the menagerie of patients seen by the new veterinarians and owners of Pinehills, Laura Diem and Claire Lowery.
A New Op-purr-tunity
When the two doctors, who previously worked together, got word through the grapevine that Dr. Dave Garza was considering retirement and wanted to leave the practice in good hands, they decided to weigh the opportunity. Garza and his wife Shayna opened the veterinary hospital in April of 2016.
Diem began working with Garza last October, becoming acquainted with the staff and patients and bringing her particular skills for surgery, anesthesia, preventative medicine and dentistry.
For about a year, Diem and Lowery hashed out the details for acquiring the practice. When financing fell into place in June, they purchased Pinehills. Complementing Diem’s clinical focus, Lowery brings a passion for older pet mobility, wellness medicine and laser acupuncture.
“We acknowledge Dr. Garza has such a wonderful following, and we’ve done our best to maintain the overall idea of good medicine and to be there when people need us,” said Lowery.
Diem has appreciated Garza’s collegiality through the years and first had the opportunity to work with him when she was at K2 Solutions in Southern Pines.
“He would let me come over because we didn’t have radiographs and other modalities when I first started there,” said Diem. “He was a fantastic colleague to work with — just interested in helping everybody in the community.”
Garza remains a resource for the new owners, but they want him to enjoy his retirement. He’s “gone fishing.”
Tail of Two Vets
The new partnership emerges from the pair’s friendship and parallel backgrounds.
They first met when Lowery moved with her family to Diem’s small neighborhood in Vass in 2017. When the Diem family built a pool, Lowery showed up at their door and announced: “You don’t know it yet, but we are going to be friends.”
The veterinarians, who have 29 years of experience between them, are also veterans of the U.S. Army.
A Florida native, Diem said she was the kind of person who didn’t know what she wanted to do when she grew up. She attended the University of Florida for her undergraduate degree in animal biology and fell into working in research labs and began graduate studies.
But the lab life wasn’t for her. She eventually began veterinary school at UF and eventually entered general practice. Her husband’s military career took them to Texas, Hawaii and New York. Unable to find a veterinary job in New York, she joined the military and used her skills with the working dogs and food missions. “It was a great experience,” she said. Her last active duty post was at Fort Liberty in Fayetteville.
This work is meaningful for Diem. “I love the connection that I make with people and their pets,” she said over the loud growls of the longhaired cat from the waiting room now getting an IV. “That really is my favorite thing.”
However, her first experience with animals was a little frightening. When walking around her neighborhood in elementary school, a friendly Great Dane came loping up to offer a “hello.” She ran screaming in blind terror at the enormous canine. Things have come full circle. Diem is on her third Great Dane.
Lowery, who hails from Wisconsin, studied exercise science at the University of South Carolina. After graduating, she began veterinary school and eventually enlisted in the Army. She worked with military working dogs and some horses as well as food missions.
Enthusiastic about her work, Lowery said she appreciates that it gives her the opportunity to be herself. “I can be my authentic self in a military community. I’m able to be real and talk about the spectrum of care and not be limited by a gold standard that implies there is a right way and a wrong way.”
There is a creative aspect to Lowery’s approach to medicine. She is passionate about exploring all the options for good medicine with a client, looking at the pros and cons and determining the best care. “I enjoy making that journey of life with everybody,” she said.
Diem and Lowery are also parents to young children — two each. As working parents, they are intentional about setting professional boundaries so they can create healthy families along with healthy animals.
Paw-fessional Goals
The best interest of each animal in Diem’s and Lowery’s care comes first. “We firmly believe in good medicine, with the understanding of our limitations as a general practice level facility,” said Lowery.
“We have enjoyed making our professional connections with specialty centers and being about to say when something is out of our wheelhouse. We’re real honest people. We will not fake it till we make it.”
Diem concurs with her colleague. “The big thing is keeping the pet’s best interest at heart. There is a whole lot of stuff we could just march forward and try. But realistically we want what is best for the pet and to keep in mind the full balance for everybody.”
One way to think of veterinary care is to consider the different tiers of care in human medicine. In the same way, Diem said, there are things that may be outside their field of expertise that may require a referral. But they will always try to figure out the best care plan for each animal.
Lowery describes them as both “room doctors,” meaning they like to be on the floor with the pets. “I like the communication. I like the eye to eye,” said Lowery who later got down on the floor with an under-the-weather gray-faced old dog during the interview.
“And I’ve allocated my exam times to reflect that. So I may not be able to see as many pets, but I’m hoping that connection is really strengthening.”
Transparency is a value of Lowery’s who understands that pet owners need to feel comfortable with and confident in their veterinary care. “If you’re not getting the communication you feel like you need, let me know,” she said. “I will never be a stumbling block to an animal’s best health.”
Growing up with a mother who worked as a hospice nurse, Lowery also absorbed the value of seeking the best quality of life through care and comfort measures. She is also motivated by the call to service – from her service in the military to the wider community.
Diem shares her colleague’s values for providing a spectrum of care. “As a clinician, one of my core values is trying to find the right level of care for the individual pet and their owner,” Diem said.
This mutual approach to care enables the pair to share cases and continue care nearly seamlessly, providing value to their clients.
Old Dog, New Tricks
While honoring the spirit of Garza’s practice, Diem and Lowery bring their unique personalities and interests to the work of caring for animals as well as new treatments and technologies.
“We want to continue with Dr. Garza’s wonderful platform that he’s given us,” said Lowery. “But we are different from Dr. Garza. We are not better; we are not worse – we are just different with different interests.”
They now offer text messaging and email to facilitate communication with pet owners and they will soon offer online appointment scheduling.
A new companion laser, or medical therapeutic laser to help with healing from inflammation, arthritis and post-surgical recovery will be available. And they hope to begin incorporating acupuncture.
To facilitate accuracy of care, the practice invites pet owners to give 24 hours notice for refill requests. They have also negotiated a deal with an outside laboratory that will reduce the costs of routine blood work.
“We plan to continually evolve to help serve our community,” said Diem.
The partners are also expanding their staff and are actively searching for two full time assistants to join their team of six other employees.
“If I could make a plug for anything in this clinic, it’s the staff,” said Lowery. “Not only could we not function without them, but the quality of what they dedicate not just to the clients, but in helping us move along since we bought the clinic is extraordinary.”
They both expressed gratitude for the community of Seven Lakes and its wide welcome.
The Mice Will Play
The veterinarian business partners are ultimately friends who magnify each other’s gifts. Separately they stated “food is our love language.”
Lowery, who is culturally Polish, is known as the Pierogi Queen. Her other specialty is ugly cupcakes that taste delicious. Diem, who also loves to bake sweet treats, counters that not only are her cupcakes also delicious, they also look pretty. They love to feed their staff.
The colleagues said they became aware that they saw each other less frequently now that they run the practice together. So they have started a standing weekly meeting l to kick back with a cold drink and touch base about their venture and tell all the tall “tails” from their week.
For more information about the veterinary hospital, visit pinehillsveterinary.com.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
