It is important to all of us at Smithfield Animal Hospital that we are able to continue to provide easy access to appointments for all of our clients. In order to maintain this access, we need to minimize missed or late appointments.
Missed / No-Show Appointments
We understand that schedule changes and illnesses happen. If you will not be able to make your appointment, please contact our hospital as soon as possible to cancel or reschedule your appointment and in most cases, we can accommodate these changes to make sure your pet is taken care of. We reserve the right to charge the exam fee if an appointment is cancelled within 24 hours of its scheduled appointment time or the client does not arrive for their appointment at all. Clients with a history of no-shows for appointments may be required to pay the exam fee as a deposit at the time of scheduling. This will be refunded in the form of an account credit if the appointment is canceled or rescheduled more than 24 hours in advance. Clients with multiple no-shows for appointments may be dismissed from our practice.
Late Arrivals
Our team wants your visit to be simple and enjoyable. In order to minimize wait time for all of our clients, it is important that we implement a late arrival policy. If a client is more than 10 minutes late for an appointment, the appointment may need to be rescheduled. In this event, the appointment will be treated like a missed appointment. This ensures that patients scheduled after the late appointment do not have their appointments shortened. If we are still able to accommodate a late arrival, please keep in mind that our procedures may have to be adjusted or shortened to accommodate the late arrival (such as a more limited scope of assessment and no preparation of written discharge notes). If other options are available such as an urgent care appointment or drop-off, our team will discuss those with you at check-in. The doctors and team at Smithfield Animal Hospital appreciate your understanding and compliance with these policies. Our goals are to provide excellent medical care and excellent client service for all of our valued clients.