TLDR (in depth review below)
I have used this office for 20 years, and they figuratively spit on us and our pets in an emergency. They don't seem to care about the health outcomes or being available when really needed. I recommend you go literally anywhere else. Your fur babies will be so much better off.
FULL REVIEW
My family and I were loyal customers to Gaithersburg Vet clinic from the late 1990s to 2018. About 20 years. I have had to really think about how to explain my utter disappointment with this clinic. With years of use, things start to add up. While I don't think Dr Hileman is necessary a bad vet, I don't see her as an effective vet. Recommendations have been made for our pets (2 dogs and 4 cats in the time we have used them) that haven't, in my opinion, been in their best interest. Without the dirty details, there have been bad results due to administrations and recommendations. We aren't vets, and didn't have the knowledge to see if what we were told was good or bad.
However, is isn't the treatment itself that cause us to move elsewhere. There are a few large red-flags that forced us to seek other help.
The worst- The vet has never been available for us in times of emergency. While the office may be "open" no vet will be on site. This has resulted on one occasion where we rushed our poor late cat to the office and we were sent away to a emergency vet. My cat died on the car ride to said clinic. We had him confirmed dead at the emergency clinic. The emergency vet sent us condolences and a stamp of my cats paw. We heard nothing from Gaithersburg vet.
On the next occasion our dog broke her leg. This was the final straw. We called ahead this time. Again, no actual vet to see her, go to emergency. Emergency vets, in my mind is not useful for continuity of care. We found a new vet at this point, much farther but highly recommended. They are open 7 days a week and have 5 vets on staff. We attempted to get records from Gaithersburg vet to this new clinic so they could have history before operating. What happened next was petty and disgusting. They charge the old fashioned "copy fee". I can't remember the exact number, but was somewhere between 25 and 50 cents per page. And we had to physically go to the office to sign for it. And it will take a week to get the records to us. Right. In the day and age of high speed scanners, it takes a week and insane rates to run medical history? Whoever was the receptionist at that time was very nasty about the whole thing. We ended up in a pinch only getting the vaccination history for our pets which they are bound to provide.
Another big red flag- Excessive ordering of diagnostics! Every time we came in, they wanted to perform tests usually in the $300 area. This seemed excessive. Turns out it is! Talking to my new vet, similar orders of diagnostics should only be done every few years or as needed, and a full panel of blood work with this vet is only $125. I will do all I can for my pets, but for perfectly healthy animals I feel thoroughly bled for years of high-price testing that is not within the norm.
Why I finally was pushed into writing this review over a year later (and I did wait a long while to write this after the incident, as I was seething after the fact) was our final dealing with the clinic in regard to a lost vaccination record. I was only privy to part of the conversation, as a poor receptionist at my new vet had to speak to this impossibly rude woman first. Omitola was on the phone, and refused to fax the history to my new vet. I don't know exactly what was said, but the receptionist was exasperated after dealing with her. When I got on the phone, I was lied to multiple times. First, we had an outstanding balance (upon questioning it is for something they hadn't provided and we didn't ask for, but they wanted us to pay so it COULD be provided- utter nonsense), and she lied about saying she wouldn't provide vaccination history. I heard quite clearly the receptionist asking for that and being denied, when I questioned Omitola on it, first she said we had to pay the BS outstanding balance first, and with further pressing and outlining legalities to her, she said she had never said she wouldn't send the history. I gave her the number for faxing info, and when I asked if she would send it she promptly hung up the phone. She is the epitome of horrible administrative staff. While we eventually got the vaccine history, based on her comportment, how she has remained employed in reception is mind blowing. I felt compelled to apologize to the new vet's receptionist afterward on behalf of Omitola as the receptionist seemed upset by the interaction. Not an ounce of professionalism or compassion. Please do some extra research before you choose a vet. There are so much better options out there. read more