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Dogs, cats and their humans who
go to the Berkshire Veterinary Hospital for their annual heartworm
checks and immunizations this year will find a comfortable and
relaxed environment awaiting them.
The hospital’s reception area has
been expanded to make it more open and airy, creating extra space
for patients when they walk through the designated dog and cat
entrances. Once inside, they wait in their respective canine and
feline areas to see one of the hospital’s two veterinarians.
“We’re the only veterinarians in
northern Fairfield County with separate entrances that we know of,”
said John Roumanis, V.M.D. and pet cardiologist.
Dr. Roumanis owns and operates the
veterinary practice at One Toddy Hill Road with his wife, Karin
Harter, D.V.M. The renovated reception area is the second major
renovation to the 5,000-square foot animal hospital in three years.
Dr. Roumanis designed both additions with a computer aided drawing
program.
In late 1999, Drs. Roumanis and
Harter added a 2,300 square foot addition with 28 dog runs so
animals can receive longer-term care at the hospital. The new runs
supplement seven original ones. They are available to customers with
pets special needs, such as diabetes and heart conditions requiring
supervision and medication, and to those whose pets need observation
or other care while their owners go on vacation.
The hospital handles many unusual and
complicated surgeries since Dr. Roumanis is a pet cardiologist and
receives referrals form other veterinarians. He recently corrected a
genetic heart defect in four Newfoundland puppies from a
single litter. The precision operation typically would only be
conducted at a veterinary school or major animal surgery center.
It took Dr. Roumanis 10 years to
complete the planning and building of the hospital addition and
required overcoming many obstacles. His father, Paul Roumanis,
enthusiastically supported the concept and helped his son and
daughter-in-law bring it to fruition.
Prior to his retirement, Paul
Roumanis worked as an electrical engineer with General Electric and
got in on the ground floor when computers first began to enter the
corporate world. He became an expert in microcomputers, the
precursors of the personal computers of today. He learned how to
build and program them so that he could teach young engineers how to
use them in their work.
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He bought hobbyist kits and built his
own microcomputers and then passed along equipment he no longer
needed to his son, who developed an equally avid interest in them.
In addition to imparting a love of
computers to his son, Paul Roumanis helped develop software programs
to streamline operations at the animal hospital. He collaborated
with Dr. Roumanis enhancing a checkbook program Dr. Roumanis
wrote over twenty years ago which eventually expanded into the
sophisticated program that is now used in every aspect of the
hospital. When Paul Roumanis died of cancer in 1990, he left an
inheritance to help fund the 1999 addition.
During the course of designing the
project, Dr. Roumanis ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his
knee during karate class in 1995. The weekend he was scheduled for
surgery, he blew out the cruciate ligament in the other knee.
The injuries required multiple knee
surgeries and lengthy recovery periods. Dr. Roumanis spent this time
designing software programs and finishing the auto CAD designs for
the addition. As if that wasn’t enough, he injured both shoulders,
one in karate and the other while chaperoning a Boy Scout canoe
trip. These injuries also required surgery.
With perseverance and the help of a
good builder — who is also his karate instructor — they finally
broke ground in 1999.
Drs. Roumanis and Harter originally
opened the animal hospital in December 1986 when their elder son,
Branden, was a baby. Now 19, he is a freshman at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, Dr. Roumanis’ alma mater. Branden is a
computer science major, attending on a $60,000 merit scholarship he
was awarded on the basis of academic achievement.
Their son, Christopher, 16, a
sophomore at Newtown High School, also is following his parents’
footsteps including a love of computers and karate. He is a member
of the high school’s Tech Club and has a Cho Dan Bo Blue Belt, which
represents a black belt candidate.
Dr. Harter earned her D.V.M. degree
at Michigan State University, where she enrolled in the veterinary
program after three years of college. She always wanted to be a vet
from the time she was in eighth grade and studied hard to make her
dream a reality. In addition to her many responsibilities as a
veterinarian and a parent, Dr. Harter has a Cho Dan or first degree
Black Belt. She has been active in Boy Scouts and provided
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support to Branden while he
was becoming an Eagle Scout, a status he
attained in 2003.
Dr. Roumanis majored in chemistry as
an undergraduate at Rensselaer, originally planning to become a
nuclear scientist. But he switched gears following graduation in
1972, amid a recession and a decline in the space race. He applied
to the veterinary program at the University of Pennsylvania and
followed the successful completion of his V.M.D. with a 14-month
internship at the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Massachusetts.
He then completed a two-year residency in cardiology at the
University of Pennsylvania for a grand total of 11 years of higher
education.
He recently earned a Sam Dan, or
third-degree black belt in karate. In addition to continuing to take
class, he teaches karate and enjoys it for the social life it
provides, in addition to the physical prowess.
The whole family has been involved in
karate since 1992, when Branden took his first class through the
Newtown Parks and Recreation Department program. Drs. Roumanis and
Harter watched his classes with interest and got involved
themselves. Dr. Harter began training in 1992 and Dr. Roumanis a
year later.
“Karate helped both kids focus and
concentrate and built self-confidence,” Dr. Harter said. “It’s not
just physical exercise but a way of life and very family-oriented.”
Dr. Harter also continues with her
karate classes. Both veterinarians frequently compete in
tournaments.
How do they manage to get along while
spending so much time together? They actually do many activities
apart, they said. Dr. Harter sees routine appointments for checkups
and vaccinations and Dr. Roumanis does most of the surgeries and
sees cardiology referrals. They also go to different karate
schools, a practice that evolved when their children were young, and
they could not both leave them at the same time.
Drs. Roumanis and Harter enjoy
interacting with their patients and their owners, an essential part
of being a veterinarian, they said. “You can’t be a veterinarian if
you don’t like to deal with people,” Dr. Harter said. Dr. Roumanis
added, “People often tell me they wish their physicians explained
things as thoroughly as I do.”
The veterinarian’s office still might
not be a dogs’ or cats’ favorite place to go, but they will find a
comfortable and friendly welcome when they visit the Berkshire
Veterinary Hospital.
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