0:00at American. He’s my friend. He’s also El Presidente of Jefferson Animal Hospital. Good to see you. How you doing, amigo?
0:08
8 secondsGood to see you. I’m great. Great to be here.
0:10
10 secondsYou’re looking great. And uh look, Jefferson Animal Hospital, it it’s it’s no secret when your pets are in trouble when when there’s dire straits, stressful.
0:18
18 secondsWhere do you go with 247 health care when it comes to your pets? You already know the answer.
0:24
24 secondsIt’s Jefferson Hospital. Open 24 hours, 7 days a week. Doctor on site. anything you need right then and there for all emergencies, feline, k9, you name it.
0:34
34 secondsBut what does that mean to the Louisville community? Cuz to me, that’s a glimmer of hope that no matter what somebody’s there for, in my opinion was
0:43
43 secondswho I love the most, my dog Lemie. But explain the significance to Louisville by having 24 hours availability.
0:50
50 secondsWell, we’ve been open 24 hours for 46 years as a resource for pet care and emergencies. And when my parents opened
0:57
57 secondsin this hospital in 1978, they saw Louisville as a 247 town. They had GE, UPS, Ford. So in 1980, the year
1:07
1 minute, 7 secondsI was born, they decided to open 24 hours with a doctor on site, including all holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, every night uh for emergency and
1:15
1 minute, 15 secondswellness. You could make an appointment at any time, any shift. And so we are at the point, we were the only 24-hour hospital in the state for multiple
1:24
1 minute, 24 secondsdecades. And so we’re to the point now where we’re seeing the next generation of pet owners coming through here. We
1:31
1 minute, 31 secondshad people that came through when they were kids with their pets. Now they’re coming in with their family with their pets. That’s awesome.
1:36
1 minute, 36 secondsAnd so we’re looking ahead now. It’s great to have been open at and doing this operation for so long, but we’re looking at the next 5 years, 10 years,
1:44
1 minute, 44 secondsnext 45 years. you know, the investment in our people, the investment in our technology, the investment in our facility, and what does that look like to support the pet owning community?
1:54
1 minute, 54 secondsWell, I’ll tell you, uh, a couple of things. First of all, number one, you’re the the oldest, uh, in Kentucky when it comes 24 hours, uh, 7 days a week.
2:04
2 minutes, 4 secondsBut let’s talk nationwide. You’re still number three in the nation. That’s right.
2:07
2 minutes, 7 secondsFor the oldest in the nation. That’s right. And you say that you invest and you’re talking about I’ve seen it firsthand. I’ve seen your blood don
2:16
2 minutes, 16 secondsdonation center which is absolutely beautiful amazing.
2:19
2 minutes, 19 secondsI’ve seen the housing you have provided for doctors. So when he says he’s investing in a better product it’s not just words it’s deeds because that
2:28
2 minutes, 28 secondscampus is new. It’s beautiful and it’s set up for everything. As a matter of fact, this is how this is how important
2:36
2 minutes, 36 secondsJefferson Animal Hospital is to the Louisville community. When Ethan Almighty was found at the Humane Society, they found him in the parking lot.
2:45
2 minutes, 45 secondsYeah. And they thought he was dead.
2:47
2 minutes, 47 secondsSo, they bring what they thought was the body inside and they said, “We’ve got vitals on this dog.” They took Ethan to Jefferson Animal Hospital.
2:56
2 minutes, 56 secondsOh, wow. I didn’t know that.
2:57
2 minutes, 57 secondsHow You were there firstand how I mean because they thought the dog was dead and these are the experts. How dire was
3:05
3 minutes, 5 secondsthat situation? It It was horrible. Can you talk about that for a second? It was pretty bad. And normally when we get some bad cases, uh, I’ll get a message.
3:13
3 minutes, 13 secondsAnd I got a message that, hey, we’ve got this patient that came in from the Humane Society. It’s pretty rough. Uh, you know, we don’t know if it’s going to make it. And if you’ve ever seen
3:22
3 minutes, 22 secondspictures of Ethan, he’s a big dog. And when he came in, he was so malnourished.
3:26
3 minutes, 26 secondsHe was so dehydrated. He was about half the size that he is now. It was a bag of bones. That was it. Unbelievable. Now he’s the size of a bear. Yeah, I know.
3:33
3 minutes, 33 secondsThey didn’t think he was going to make it. Even over the first night, he spent four over four days in our ICU with our staff just around the clock. This was
3:40
3 minutes, 40 secondsduring COVID. We were, you know, we were open and it was unbelievable. And our staff did such an incredible job.
3:46
3 minutes, 46 secondsThey’re so compassionate. They were there. And to see him recover the way he did, that’s what they do. They save lives every single day. You know, we’ve
3:54
3 minutes, 54 secondsgot 70 full-time staff and they are just fearless. They are hardcore and they are all about saving lives. And it’s just a
4:03
4 minutes, 3 secondswonderful thing. And that’s what they do to see him uh be so successful and live a great life. Now, well, they’re making a movie about it.
4:08
4 minutes, 8 secondsWe know that. We We already have the actress that’s going to play your wife.
4:12
4 minutes, 12 secondsI guess they’re going to film at Jefferson Animal Hospital, right? I mean, I would think so.
4:15
4 minutes, 15 secondsI don’t I don’t know. They did cast my wife, uh, Kelly Sullivan. She’s beautiful. Yesterday, they finalized with me. Steve Bushimi is going to play me. That’s not true.
4:24
4 minutes, 24 secondsAnd I couldn’t be more excited.
4:25
4 minutes, 25 secondsYou’re not in the movie. You’re not in the movie. They trying to impress the Jeff.
4:29
4 minutes, 29 secondsBut I wonder if uh they Nobody’s contacted you yet. I’m trying to think who’s going to play you.
4:34
4 minutes, 34 secondsWell, I I I don’t know. Well, I would love any guesses.
4:37
4 minutes, 37 secondsWell, you got to force your way in the movie. I’m thinking Robert Conrad. That’s fair. We’re working on it.
4:43
4 minutes, 43 secondsSomebody might be okay. Listen, Robert Conrad.
4:45
4 minutes, 45 secondsWe’re talking to Adam Ericton, my friend. Plus, El Presidente Jefferson Animal Hospital. Um, I have been to Jefferson Animal Hospital three
4:54
4 minutes, 54 secondsdifferent occasions, three different emergencies. Okay. And every time I had a sense of peace once I got in
5:03
5 minutes, 3 secondsthere that everything’s going to be okay. Um, but there was three different emergencies.
5:09
5 minutes, 9 secondsWhat’s the most common uh thing you’ll see pests? Because I got a open 247. I would imagine you see a consistent
5:17
5 minutes, 17 secondsproblem or do you? I don’t know. It’s we see consistent cases and at any given time I any day we see between 20 and 50
5:25
5 minutes, 25 secondscases a day and even during this time of year those numbers are actually higher.
5:30
5 minutes, 30 secondsWe’re constantly triaging. We see patients that need oxygen therapy which is a variety of things. We create our own oxygen in hospital. It goes to six
5:38
5 minutes, 38 secondsdifferent areas to support ICU to support surgery. We have patients that require emergency surgery that require ultrasound that require X-ray. We see a
5:47
5 minutes, 47 secondslot of ingestions of things. Cats are going to get into string, dogs are going to get into corn cobs, prescription drugs, anything you can imagine. And so,
5:55
5 minutes, 55 secondsuh, we see anything from when animals get into arguments with other animals.
6:00
6 minutesThose are the messiest. They’ll have lacerations. Uh, we see hit by cars.
6:04
6 minutes, 4 secondsThose are the worst. Um, usually cats don’t ingest things because they’re smarter than dogs. But that is not true. Let me verify.
6:11
6 minutes, 11 secondsI I will say the morning that we were No, dogs are smart.
6:14
6 minutes, 14 secondsCats are way smarter than dogs. It’s not even close. So, um I the morning we were there and it there’s this big burly
6:21
6 minutes, 21 secondsdude, work boots, he’s huge guy and he and he’s so he has his little kitty with him and the kitty’s got a leg thing and
6:30
6 minutes, 30 secondshe’s like he’s so emotional but if you just kind of the picture of the big tough guy that doesn’t cry and he’s carrying his cat and it’s so important to him to take care of his kitty.
6:40
6 minutes, 40 secondsYeah. Yeah.
6:40
6 minutes, 40 secondsIt’s it takes all it’s really and you all are there to make him feel better about taking care of his cat. That’s pressure if you ask me because uh look,
6:48
6 minutes, 48 secondsI I love humans, man. I love love love my dogs. I got to tell you, uh because when I have a dog,
6:57
6 minutes, 57 secondsI want to be with him or her every single second of my life that I can be.
7:02
7 minutes, 2 secondsAnd that’s a lot of pressure when you have a life on your line that that’s important to somebody else. But let’s talk about some of the other people that
7:09
7 minutes, 9 secondsare uh you’re actually tied in with the Kentucky Derby somehow now, right? How is that? So, we are the official veterinary partner of the Kentucky Derby
7:17
7 minutes, 17 secondsFestival this year. That’s a little pressure. Great honor for us. And it is so neat. It is so We love the Kentucky Derby Festival. They’re such an iconic
7:25
7 minutes, 25 secondsbrand, such an iconic festival. And our family’s been involved in the festival since the 80s. Uh my dad, Rick Arrington, he’s the executive director
7:34
7 minutes, 34 secondsof the hospital. He’s also a hot air balloon pilot. We used to fly in the hot air balloon race.
7:38
7 minutes, 38 secondsOh, yeah. Man, that was so fun. And in 1985, we won the balloon race. You did not. How about that? Was your balloon shaped like a dog?
7:47
7 minutes, 47 secondsNo. No. It had a dog on. It’s called the puppy balloon. Some people might remember it. And uh and so that was so fun. And but every time I went up, it got caught on a fire hydrant.
7:56
7 minutes, 56 secondsOkay. Sorry. We’re not getting in a hot air balloon. No. No. Well, it’s very fun. You should try. Scared of heights. You can’t steer it. You can’t steer it.
8:04
8 minutes, 4 secondsI know. Let’s talk about that for a second. Kentucky Derby Festival, things like that. Uh, Jefferson Animal
8:12
8 minutes, 12 secondsHospital, you are notorious for giving back and for sponsoring things. I I love a successful company that becomes a great corporate citizen of Louisville.
8:22
8 minutes, 22 seconds
And in my eyes, that’s what you all are.
8:25
8 minutes, 25 seconds
You give back socially and then you you sp Look, you’re at the bats. Yeah.
8:30
8 minutes, 30 secondsU you’re at the soccer game last night soccer games.
8:33
8 minutes, 33 secondsYeah. I’m a season ticket holder for the Kings. Yeah.
8:36
8 minutes, 36 secondsAnd my seats are way better than Maddie Mccorals, just for the record. But your sponsors there. Yeah.
8:43
8 minutes, 43 secondsYou all just you like giving back, right?
8:46
8 minutes, 46 secondsWell, we love being a part of those teams and those organizations and they the the bats we love. They have dog day
8:53
8 minutes, 53 secondsat the park, which was last night. Their next one Yeah. is going to be May 7th.
8:58
8 minutes, 58 seconds
Uh L City, the same thing. They’ve got pups at the pitch. You can bring your dog. Our next one is going to be on May 9th. And in the Kings, I mean, what a great organization. And they all share
9:06
9 minutes, 6 seconds
our same values, which is number one, teamwork. We’re a team at Jefferson Hospital. We have team shifts around the clock. And uh you know, performing at a
9:16
9 minutes, 16 seconds
high level, right? Um at at any given moment. You know, our doctors have to be ready at every single minute all the time for whatever comes through that
9:24
9 minutes, 24 seconds
door. And then also giving back and being a part of the community. And so these organizations that also run at a
9:31
9 minutes, 31 seconds
high level, uh, we are just so fortunate to be able to be a part of and to be able to be in involved with them as well.
9:39
9 minutes, 39 seconds
You guys expanded to Fern Creek. That’s right.
9:42
9 minutes, 42 seconds
That’s pretty big, man. So, uh, how how is that and in one minute, how has that affected you all? A good way.
9:48
9 minutes, 48 seconds
In such a positive way. That’s that’s a whole separate business that we opened in 1985 and it completely added to our
9:55
9 minutes, 55 seconds
footprint. It added our ability to serve a wider range of the community, not only just basically the community, but with
10:02
10 minutes, 2 seconds
the wellness component with the just regular exams because you can get an exam any time of day at the Outer Loop location. It’s mostly emergency, but it
10:11
10 minutes, 11 seconds
really helped the Outer Loop location uh absorb some of those needs. And both are connected. So, if you go into Fern Creek
10:19
10 minutes, 19 seconds
and you have an appointment and down the road you have an emergency, we’ve got you in our system. and it helps with efficiency with operations and it is
10:26
10 minutes, 26 seconds
just not it’s a big deal and it’s really helped us to support the needs of of the community as far as pet health care and emergency.
10:34
10 minutes, 34 seconds
Yeah, some people uh take their pets to get checkups more than they go to get checkups.
10:39
10 minutes, 39 seconds
You’re looking at me. You’re looking at him. Hey, you do a great job. We appreciate everything you do. And real quick in 20 seconds, there’s new techniques for all this and surgeries and everything else.
10:48
10 minutes, 48 seconds
Is there like a vet convention? Where do they have the vet convention or do you all have those?
10:52
10 minutes, 52 seconds
Oh, yeah, we do. There’s one in Vegas every year. Of course there’s in Vegas.
10:56
10 minutes, 56 seconds
That’s a great one. We buy equipment out there. There’s one in Orlando. How very original fun.
11:02
11 minutes, 2 seconds
They’re they’re scientists and they’re very and you know they’re they’re a different level. They you know they’re very uh they’re very intelligent.
11:10
11 minutes, 10 seconds
Does everybody have fur on their outfits? Trivia night.
11:15
11 minutes, 15 seconds
Thanks, man. Hey, good to see you at American Jefferson Animal Hospital. All the staff. God bless you. I say because uh you do a lot of good for the neighborhood. I love it.
11:25
11 minutes, 25 seconds
Thank you guys. All right, listen.