Augusta County is home to Virginia's first privately owned veterinary telehealth practice

Augusta County veterinarian Dr. Leslie Sheridan used telehealth to check on a patient the morning of Sept. 18.

That patient was not a typical pet but a 600-pound Berkabaw pig named Harold, who is recovering from a back injury that limited his mobility. Harold lives on Autumn Olive Farm, a free-range pork farm in Augusta County.

Since June, Sheridan has been operating LightSpring, Virginia’s first privately owned veterinary telehealth practice from her residence on Rockfish Road, just outside Waynesboro.

With Sheridan’s help, Harold is now back on his feet. She coordinated with another veterinarian to obtain acupuncture treatment, and on her computer screen a video feed of Harold showed him walking gingerly but without pain.

Whether it is a dog or cat with fleas or a horse needing remote treatment, Sheridan provides prescriptions and advice to concerned pet owners.

She previously worked for a national telehealth practice for two years. “I didn’t like their expectations,’’ Sheridan said. “They wanted everything done in 10 minutes.”

That meant taking a patient history, writing prescriptions and other tasks in a short window of time.

Sheridan said that kind of time crunch doesn’t allow for the personal care she values. She acknowledged, however, that there are limitations in being a telehealth veterinarian.

“If an animal needs blood work, X-rays or surgery, I can’t offer that. I can’t offer vaccines,’’ she said.

Still, telehealth allows her to serve animals that cannot be taken to a veterinarian in person.

Sometimes the barrier comes from pet owners themselves. One pet owner on Maryland’s Eastern Shore was not comfortable being in public, Sheridan said, “but talking to me through the screen she was OK.’’

While telehealth is her main focus, Sheridan continues to work as an in-person veterinarian. Every other Friday, she sees patients at the Animal Clinic of Verona.

“I don’t want to lose my examination skills,’’ she said. “There is no substitute for listening to an animal’s heart and lungs and feeling bumps or lumps on their bodies.”

Raised on a 200-acre cattle farm in Tennessee, Sheridan became interested in veterinary medicine after watching veterinarians care for her family’s livestock. She graduated from the University of Tennessee’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

She worked more than a decade at Commonwealth Veterinary Clinic in Waynesboro and, two decades ago, was profiled in the News Virginian as the first recipient of the American Animal Hospital Association’s leadership award.

At the time, Dr. Bruce Bowman, then-owner of Commonwealth Veterinary Clinic, praised her, saying, “The staff gravitates toward her. They like working with her. She is competent, a good listener and values all comments, and acts on an issue after gathering information.”

Sheridan later taught for seven years in Blue Ridge Community College’s veterinary technology program before joining National Telehealth in 2022. She launched her own telehealth practice earlier this year.

Helping people and their pets remains her goal. “I think telehealth is really helpful to people with barriers to vet care,’’ she said.

More information on Sheridan’s practice can be found online at www.lightspring.vet.

Source: www.dailyprogress.com