Business As Usual

Hollywood Animal Hospital CEO, Dr. Larry Gene Dee, refuses treatment - business as usual.

Hollywood Animal Hospital, in my opinion, has some of the finest veterinarians/doctors in South Florida. It is a very busy, popular animal hospital. I hear that the Hollywood Police take their police dogs there for treatment. The veterinarians, technicians and other employees of this facility are very caring and thorough in their care. Unfortunately, the financial policies of the hospital are unethical.

I took my cat there just recently, and after spending $1400 was told there was no apparent cause for my cat’s refusal to eat. Many tests were run and many medications prescribed and administered with no improvement. As disheartening as that was, it was more disheartening to learn that I had run out of money and all further treatment would be refused, such as the life-sustaining food tube that could get my cat back to health by providing the necessary nutrients.

After giving the vet an earful about how I felt about the refusal of treatment after I had already provided them with $1400 for services rendered, I apologized for displacing my anger onto her and decided to write about it, since that may be the only way to expose the unethical policies of these so called animal “hospitals”.

I asked the vet how she would feel if she was “refused treatment” by a hospital. Evidently the CEO of Hollywood Animal Hospital, Dr. Larry Gene Dee, sees his facility as a “business” and not a “hospital” (I could have sworn I saw the word HOSPITAL in the title of their “business”). I wonder how Lucille Dee, Dr. C. E. Dee, and Dr. I. C. Frederickson, original founders of the hospital in 1947, would feel about the fact their animal hospital is now turning away those who cannot afford to pay the entire thousands of dollars up front, forcing the pet owners to take their pets home to die. I was referred to Care Credit, which is basically a credit card that charges you interest – so you end up paying the phenomenal amount for treatment without diagnosis plus the exorbitant interest. As I stated to the vet, “I’m not buying a car or house, so why am I paying interest? Since when did health care services rack up interest like the purchase of a car or a mortgage?”

Business as Usual.