BELLEVUE ANIMAL HOSPITAL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Lead Client Services Representative
Amber grew up in Madison, Florida, playing clarinet in her high school's marching band, and riding horses. She graduated in 2015 from Madison County High School; two years later, she married her longtime sweetheart, Casey, and they moved to Bellevue. We were very pleased to welcome her to our front desk team in June 2019. Amber is a fantastic organizer and also excels at finding a good bargain. Her future plans include studying to be a veterinary technician!
In her time away from work, Amber enjoys crafting, baking, playing with her two awesome and goofy (or awesomely goofy) Pit Bulls, Nova and Red, and cuddling her sweet cats, Sylvester and Tootsie. Amber and Casey are the proud parents of Russell, born in September 2022, and will welcome a new baby boy in March 2024.
Job Titles:
- Lead Veterinary Assistant
Aubrey grew up in a military family and says she is "from all over!" She has lived in Nebraska for about 8 years now. A 2019 graduate of Bellevue West High School, she put in a year towards an athletic training degree at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, before coming to work for Bellevue Animal Hospital in December 2021. As you might guess, Aubrey loves sports and working out! She also enjoys just hanging out with friends and bingeing Netflix; however, Aubrey spends most of her free time these days with her adorable son Hunter, born in April 2022. Aubrey's family also includes a Chihuahua-Dachshund mix named Cocoa Butter.
Born and raised in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Bailey recently graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School (2022) and during her senior year she was also attending classes at Iowa Western Community College. She came to work for Bellevue Animal Hospital in July 2020, and was a great help to us throughout the long years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bailey's furry siblings include dogs Olaf, Ella, and Gidget, as well as Negan and Stevie the cats. Bailey says that one of her favorite foods is chicken tenders! When she's not working or studying, Bailey enjoys experimenting with makeup, and she is planning to become a professional hair stylist.
Grayson graduated with honors from Papillion-LaVista South High School in May 2023. He is currently a student in the pre-med program at Creighton University, with a biology major. He plans to enter medical school, and then specialize in pediatric oncology. Grayson joined our front desk team during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020; he is now cross-trained as a veterinary assistant, working with our medical support staff during urgent care hours. Grayson enjoys solving technical problems, and played a large role in helping us get our hospital's "app" with VitusVet up and running! He loves dogs, especially Golden Retrievers, and when he's not busy assisting our clients and patients, you can usually find him hanging out with a cute dog. Grayson's other talents include acting as an "at-home barista."
Job Titles:
- Senior Veterinary Technician / Equipment & Inventory Manager
Jenni hails from Springfield, Nebraska, and after many years as an active participant in 4-H, she graduated from the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in 2001 with an Associates Degree in Veterinary Science. She joined our Bellevue Animal Hospital team in July 2006, and now serves as our Lead Veterinary Technician. Jenni is also a registered Pharmacy Technician. In September 2021, Jenni took on the role of Equipment and Inventory Manager for our hospital as well.
Jenni devotes a great deal of her free time to caring for foster kittens in her home: she is the founder and president of The Foster Kitten Project, specializing in the newborns and itty-bitties that require bottle feeding and devoted care. Foster-failure Fergus was added to Jenni's own fur family at the insistence of previous foster-failure Dean Winchester, and with the approval of senior cats Tab (aka Fatty) and Squeaker! In January 2017, Jenni became the proud mama of a rescue Greyhound named Cascade (also known as Cas!) and added rescue Greyhound Tweety Bird to the pack in February 2020. When Jenni's not at work, taking care of foster kittens, or spending time with her own pets, she loves to support her nieces and nephews by attending school concerts, plays, or athletic events!
Kaitlyn joined our front desk team in July 2021. A Bellevue native, she has lived here for 25 years, and attended Bellevue West High School. Kaitlyn's fur family includes busy little ferrets Cicero and Relish, and a happy, handsome hunk of Pit Bull named Frank. Kaitlyn's hobbies include crafting and reading; her favorite genre is psychological thrillers, and she often devours several books within the span of a week! Kaitlyn also does volunteer work for The Foster Kitten Project.
Job Titles:
- Training Coordinator / Client Communications Coordinator
Born in Alliance, Nebraska, and raised on a farm in Blue Hill, Kim has lived in the Omaha metro area since 1993. She studied biology at Dana and Wayne State colleges, and spent three weeks in southern Australia studying Fairy Penguins in the wild. One of Kim's most exciting experiences was working at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium, where she raised, fed, and swam with the penguins! We welcomed her to the BAH family in February 2005. Kim loves making personal connections with our clients and their pets, and her favorite thing to do here is starting your pet's appointment off right: discussing the patient's history and reason for the visit, and making sure you have everything that you need for your pet and are completely comfortable & satisfied.
In addition to her other roles, in August 2023 Kim also took over the important duty of contacting our clients to relay and explain their pets' laboratory test results and other important patient care information. She works closely with each of our veterinarians, who give her detailed interpretation of test results for each individual patient, as well as any instructions and / or recommendations for further diagnostics or follow up care.
Kim is also a highly recommended pet sitter, operating under the name "Cozy Critters" since 2008. In her limited free time, Kim enjoys relaxing at home with her husband Jose'; dogs Aldo, ChaCha, D'Jango, Ollie, and Tramp; and her cats, Buttercup and Chunky Monkey!
Originally from Lake Wales, Florida, Maggie came to our practice in March 2021 after moving to Omaha in 2020. Maggie grew up on a ranch in Florida, and has been riding horses and working cows since she was just eight months old! She has seven younger brothers, but her daddy always said that Maggie was the toughest son he ever raised. A homeschool graduate, Maggie is now working on her veterinary technician degree through Ashworth College. Maggie enjoys cooking and baking, and she also has some amazing crafting skills: our client education boards are now filled every month with the eye-catching products of Maggie's diligent research (and hours of cutting and pasting) on topics such as pet dental health, parasite prevention, working dog and K9 officer appreciation, and pet diabetes awareness. Along with her many cows and horses, Maggie also has two dogs: a Blue Heeler named Punchy, and a Golden Retriever named Silas Boone.
A Bellevue resident all her life, Marley joined our client services team in February 2022. Marley graduated from Bellevue East High School (go Chieftains!) with the class of 2020. At BEHS, she was a section leader in marching band and received multiple awards for outstanding musical performance. As you might expect, Marley loves music, and she also enjoys just hanging out with her pets: she has three guinea pigs (Lulu, Bindi, and Louis,) two wiener dogs (Frank and Willie,) a Chihuahua named Bosely, and a three-legged cat named Fox! Marley prides herself on providing our clients with excellent customer service, and we're happy to have her here!
Job Titles:
- Client Services Specialist
Mary is originally from a very small town in upstate New York, but has spent most of her life here in Bellevue. She graduated from Bellevue West High School, and attended Kearney State College for two years. She began her career at Bellevue Animal Hospital in 1993 as a part-time receptionist, and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Mary was a member of the American Animal Hospital Association's 2016-2017 Online Accreditation Engagement Committee (OAEC) and continued with that role in 2017-2018. She is the administrator for our hospital's official website, our Facebook page and Instagram account; coordinates all outgoing e-mail correspondence; and is our "go-to" person for US and international health certificate information, in addition to her many other responsibilities.
Mary's hobbies include reading, nature and cat photography, jigsaw puzzles, and piecing togther the puzzles of ancestry and family history through genealogy research. Mary is also a life-long "Star Wars" fan, and has seen all of the movies multiple times! She says that her "happy places" include Omaha's botanical oasis Lauritzen Gardens, Fontenelle Forest, independent bookstores, and at home with her cats. Her two much-loved feline furbabies are Sheldon O. Cooper - a former barn cat, Nebraska Humane Society alumnus, and unofficial AAHA "spokescat" - and Zazzles (who goes by Zazzy) - a former foundling and foster kitten alumnus of the Foster Kitten Project.
Nathan is a Bellevue native and graduated from Bellevue East High School. He joined our medical support staff team as a veterinary assistant in June 2022, at the same time keeping up with his studies in Veterinary Technology at Iowa Western Community College. Nathan earned his Veterinary Technician license after passing the national board exam in July 2023. When he's not hard at work, Nathan enjoys video editing, art, and board games of all kinds. Nathan and his fiance', Taren Denny, have a Chihuahua named Deedee (a.k.a. Peanut); two cats named Sylvester and Tweety; and two rats named Sylva and Ilumi.
Job Titles:
- Senior Veterinary Assistant
Born and raised right here in Bellevue, Patty has been a part of the Bellevue Animal Hospital family for 21 years! She holds two bachelor's degrees from Bellevue University, one in Environmental Science and the other in Sociology, but she loves BAH so much that she decided to stay! Patty excels at training new team members, and truly enjoys teaching the "newbies" how to succeed at the wonderful job of veterinary assistant. She has an amazing son named Connor, a sweet senior Basset Hound named Nana, two wonderful cats named Isla and Sawyer, and a Basset Hound youngster named Dugan - all of whom are the absolute lights of her life! In her time off, Patty likes to spend her leisure time reading, as well as playing with and teaching her son.
Sarah was born and raised in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and has lived in the Omaha-metro area all her life. She graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 2003. Sarah joined our front desk team in June 2010, and was eventually promoted to the position of Hospital Office Manager, with management and oversight over the front desk team, hospital attendant staff, and veterinary assistant team. Upon the retirement in January 2021 of our previous Practice Manager, Dr. Bev Wofford, Sarah was asked to take on the role of Interim Practice Manager. She took over the responsibilities of shepherding our hospital through the height of the COVID pandemic and its associated staffing shortages and supply chain issues.
Sarah completed a five-month long executive-level leadership program through the Veterinary Management Institute sponsored by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), and earned her certificate in November 2021. Her advanced training included courses in: Creative Decision Making; Innovation and Adapting to Change; Building Effective Teams; Veterinary Financial Management; Animal Behavior and the Human Bond; and much more. Sarah was officially promoted at that time to the role of Practice Manager, and since then she has overseen all the day-to-day operations at Bellevue Animal Hospital. She also serves as supervisor to all of the employees at our practice.
Sarah and her husband, Jeremy, have been together almost 20 years and have three beautiful daughters named Bailey, Jazmin, and Isabell. The family also includes a rambunctious Corgi/Australian Shepherd mix named Olaf, Ella the Boston Terrier, Gidget the Chihuahua; senior cat Stevie, middle child cat Negan, and kitten Theo. Sarah describes herself as "loud and outgoing!" and in her free time she enjoys working on projects with her girls. She is a big fan of Winnie the Pooh, and one of her favorite animals is the sloth.