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Hospital Policies

Payment Policy

Payment is required at the time of service. For a more complete explanation of our payment policy and payment options, visit the payment tab.

Appointments

Appointments are required through booking online or by calling our office. Please plan ahead for routine visits as same day appointments are not always available. Walk-ins are discouraged and may not be accommodated unless under special circumstances. We are not an emergency hospital, but do set aside time during our regular schedule to accommodate urgent care or emergency situations. In some instances, you may be asked to drop off the patient and an RVT will triage the situation.  In the event that we are at capacity for the day, we may refer you to the emergency hospital. For afterhours care, please visit our emergency tab. Priority for urgent care appointments are held for existing regular clients of MVVH.  If there is space, we may be able accommodate non-clients for urgent care, but we are not obligated to do so. Should an emergency arise that requires immediate attention, non-urgent appointments may be re-scheduled. We ask for your understanding in these circumstances.

Cancellations

We understand that life happens and sometimes appointments need to be rescheduled. We ask that you give 24 hours notice if possible. For chronic no-shows and chronic last-minute cancellations, we reserve the right to require a deposit for booking future appointments at our discretion. We may request a deposit for surgical procedures in some cases.

Prescriptions and Refills

Medications can only be dispensed with an active Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship (VCRP) as by law (Veterinarians Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.3) If we have not examined your pet within a 12 month period, we can not prescribe medications including flea, tick and heartworm medications. All refills need to be approved by a veterinarian. Special order items and compounded medications require prepayment as these are formulated for your pet and can not be returned. Please give 48-72 hours for in-house refills and 5 days for special order items. Prescriptions made to a human pharmacy will be charged a fee for the time needed to confirm the prescription with the human pharmacist to ensure patient safety. Refill requests to a human pharmacy will also be charged a fee for the time required for the veterinarian to review the medical file and to contact the human pharmacy.

Pet Safety

We request that you bring your dog on a leash (extendable leashes are not recommended) and your cat in a carrier for your pet's safety. Some patients can be very anxious at the hospital and may display fearful or aggressive behaviour in these situations. Many of our team members are Fear Free Certified and our hospital practices Fear Free techniques. Some of these practices may include prescribing an anti-anxiety medication prior to your pet's visit or administering a sedative for certain procedures such as sample collection or nail trims. To find out more about the Free Fear movement in veterinary medicine, visit  Fear Free Pets  If you have an anxious pet, please advise our staff when booking an appointment ahead of time so we can suggest strategies prior to coming in.

Respect and Kindness

Our team members are expected to treat clients and their co-workers with kindness and respect. We therefore ask that clients do the same. Rude, aggressive or disrespectful behaviour will not be tolerated and individuals that may display inappropriate or aggressive behaviour will be asked to leave. We reserve the right to terminate our relationship with such individuals and/or refuse services. We do not discriminate based on colour, nationality, sex, gender or race.

Referral Policy

Mountain Vista Veterinary Hospital works with many other veterinary hospitals on a referral basis.  We will not provide general practice services or services that do not relate to the reason for referral unless explicitly requested by the referring veterinarian.  Medical records will be transferred to the referring veterinarian once the service is complete, and follow-ups will be directed to the referring veterinarian once our role is complete for continued care.

Accessibility

We are committed to ensuring equal access and participation for people with disabilities. We will do so by removing and preventing barriers to accessibility and meeting our accessibility requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and Ontario’s accessibility laws. Written information and other forms of communication will be made available upon request. Our clinic is wheelchair accessible including our washroom.

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