Daniel Kiryakov
5/5
VERG saved our cat's life. Huge heartfelt Thank You to Dr. Jin and the entire care team of VERG!
Our cat Lexie had a major accident last year - she got out on the balcony of our new apartment, jumped on the railing, slipped and fell from 5 stories high. She fell on her butt, fractured her pelvis in several places, broke her back leg, and a finger on her front paw. There was a bone from her pelvis fracture puncturing her skin.
She was in critical condition and underwent hospitalization and major surgery at VERG. Her surgery was successful and she went through a long process of recovery, but ultimately recovered 99% and is having a happy life again (knock on wood).
It pains me to look back at photos from that time, but wanted to share some from our story. From our time at the hospital visits (we were allowed uninterrupted daily private time with her), her crawling on her own my chest right after release, the joy of her grooming her head after we removed her front paw cast... It was a long and painful recovery, from her not being able to move one bit and being in a lot of pain, to her now being able to run again and jump easily on top of our kitchen counter :). She wouldn't even be alive today if Dr. Jin and his team had not done this incredible work.
Side note, in the process of visiting a local clinic for Lexie's cast replacement, we discovered that Dr. Jin had actually trained our local emergency vet surgeon, which only speaks to his volume of experience. We can also tell in our interactions with him that he was truly invested in our cat's well-being and recovery.
Positives:
- Our cat recovered fully and is living a happy life again
- The surgical and medical staff in general is the best there is in our NYC area (see their credentials, and education, and note they even train other vets) - they take on the hardest and riskiest cases, which is weighing down their overall rating
- All of VERG's staff was very compassionate and truly invested in our cat's recovery
- We were allowed uninterrupted daily visits after Lexie was no longer in critical condition, in a private room
Negatives:
There are some areas of improvement that I have to mention, which may be helpful to other people to know, as well as for the clinic's administration to address.
- Cost & Estimate - in total we spend ~$25K at VERG, which was more than double their initial estimate of $12K max (our referring local vet took X-Rays and VERG staff was well aware of my cat's condition before admitting her and providing me with the $12K estimate); the higher final cost wouldn't have changed my decision to proceed with her care, but I wish I was better informed of potential added costs upfront so I can begin planning for the severe financial strain this caused
- Final Bill - a procedure we did not elect for was added to our final bill. I almost overlooked it, but thankfully my wife didn't, saving us $4K of potential added cost. If you choose VERG, itemize and take your time to review each line of your final bill with the staff carefully. Don't be afraid to be annoying (like me) and make sure you know everything that you've been charged for. In our case I'm certain this was a mistake, but we only caught it due to my wife's persistence.
- Communication Delays - likely due to extremely occupied staff. Here we assumed no news is good news, but we would have appreciated somewhat more timely updates, as promised, especially during the time Lexie was still in critical condition. It was also incredibly difficult to get a hold of anyone by calling in and spent huge wait times even to just be connected to reception. As anyone, I'd rather have the doctors be saving pets vs spending time on the phone with owners, but there has to be a way to improve communication with pet owners.
Again, what really matters to us is that Lexie is now well and happy. One more thank you to Dr. Jin and Verg's care team!
If you're here, having finished reading this long review, I hope your pet also gets the best care possible and recovers fully!
