Two veterinarians announced as winners of 2022 Credabl Helping Hand Grants

_{Image: Dr Brad Viljoen and staff at Main Street Veterinary Clinic}

Veterinarians Dr John Hammond (Riverland Veterinary Practice, SA) and Dr Brad Viljoen (Main Street Veterinary Clinic, VIC) were recently announced as winners of 2022 Credabl Helping Hand Grants. The grants – which were open to medical, dental and veterinary practices – are designed to support practice growth, showcase each practice’s contribution to their community and to help drive patient numbers and engagement. That two of the five grants were awarded to veterinarians is a testament to the importance of veterinarians in our communities, particularly in regional areas.

Serving the community is a priority for Dr Viljoen. “As a rural practice, we service a large area and any help towards keeping the practice up-to-date is appreciated,” said Dr Viljoen. “Our team works very hard every day to offer the best care for our patients, so we wanted to try and win them something special to help make their day-to-day work lives a little bit easier.” For Dr Hammond, the grant gave him “a lovely sense of appreciation for our contribution which is frequently volunteered, and for my hard working generous staff.”

The judging panel comprised of veterinarian Dr Garnett Hall (who is the president of the AVA’s WA Division), cardiologist Dr Geoff Toogood, and dentist Dr Kristina Cain. Rounding out the panel were Stafford Hamilton, Glen Stewart and Kelly Gall (CEO, CRO and Finance Specialist at Credabl, respectively). “It was incredibly hard for the judging panel to select only five recipients,” said Stafford Hamilton, saying that the grants help to “shine a light on the amazing work that [the winners] do for us and our communities.”

As for what the winners plan to do with the prize money, Dr Hammond said he is hoping to provide interesting experiences and education for his vets and nurses. This involves sponsoring a veterinarian and nurse from the practice to visit Sri Lanka, as well as doing outback outreach in Australia.

^{Image: Dr John Hammond from Riverland Veterinary Practice}

Meanwhile, Dr Viljoen is not yet sure exactly where the money will go, but plans to put it “back into the clinic to better serve our clients.” One idea that has been floated is to purchase “additional equipment for our orthopaedic surgical suite. Our surgical team is expanding their skills and some updated tools will be very useful for moving forward… [and] something the whole team will benefit from.” In the meantime, the coffee machine, one of the prizes awarded with the grant, has already gotten “all of the staff very excited!”

Each Credabl Helping Hand grant included a cash incentive, practice growth and management coaching from industry partners including Health Business Network, Prime Practice and Vettr, a Delonghi Nespresso coffee machine, Qantas Business Points and a digital guidebook filled with tips to help boost patient numbers.

The AVA congratulates Dr Hammond and Dr Viljoen, both of whom are AVA members, for their fantastic achievement.