In
Grateful Appreciation
for
F V M A 20 1 5 AWARD H o no r ees distinguished service to Veterinary Medicine
Senator Jack Latvala PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Senator Jack Latvala was bestowed with the FVMA President’s Award on April 10, at the FVMA Annual Awards Ceremony and Officer Installation which took place at the Association’s 86th Annual Conference held at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa in Lake Buena Vista. The State Senator for District 20, Senator Latvala has been a steadfast friend to the veterinary profession, and has championed veterinary medicine’s causes in the Senate. He has given unwavering support over the years through sponsorship and advocacy as a legislator, for issues that are important to Florida’s veterinarians. FVMA President Don Morgan made the presentation on behalf of the FVMA Executive Board and membership, pointing out that the award honors Senator Latvala for his support of the profession, his service to the Citizens of Florida, and for his commitment which safeguards the health and welfare of the animals of Florida. He said the senator was a true advocate for small business and “had opened many doors for veterinarians and the FVMA in Tallahassee.” In accepting the award, Senator Latvala expressed appreciation to the FVMA for the recognition, and he thanked the Association for its friendship and support. “Veterinarians are a great group,” said the senator, concluding that he is “happy to help anytime.” Senator Latvala’s relationship with the FVMA and support
Russell J. Snyder, VMD
distinguished service Award
Dr. Russell J. Snyder is two-time recipient of the FVMA Gold Star Award, and the 2001 FVMA Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a past president of the Jacksonville Veterinary Medical Society (JVMS) and has been closely affiliated to the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine (UFCVM). Dr. Snyder has been a member of the FVMA since the early 1960's, and served on the Executive Board as the District 2 Representative, and on the FVMA Finance Committee. He was instrumental in the planning of UFCVM, and today remains an active advocate for the school. He has undertaken 6 | FVMA ADVOCATE
Representative Kathleen M. Peters
go back 20 years, when he helped to achieve a major milestone for veterinarians with the repeal of records exemption, which prevented vaccination, license and rabies certificate records from being harvested by marketers. Recently, in 2014, the senator was the driving force behind the passage of legislation which reinstated tax-exempt status for therapeutic veterinary diets. He is currently championing SB1189, the Pharmacy Compounding Bill, which allows veterinarians to dispense compounded medications to patients, a practice that had been in place for many years until a new rule by the Board of Pharmacy last year required Florida veterinarians to sign an agreement with compounding pharmacies when ordering compounded medications, not to dispense said medications to their clients. A veterinarian’s ability to dispense compounded medications to clients is a critical aspect of the practice of veterinary medicine which. Dispensing, which is allowed by Florida Statute, had been unintentionally disallowed by this Pharmacy Board rule of October 2014. Senator Latvala was first elected to the Senate in 1994, when he served until 2002. He was reelected in 2010 and in 2014. He was awarded FVMA Legislator of the Year in 2012. He is the Chairman of the Pinellas Legislative Delegation, and serves on the Pinellas Sports Authority and the Palm Harbor Community Services Agency. As the member for District 20 in the Florida Senate, his committee assignments include: Chair, Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development; Appropriations; Commerce and Tourism; Government Oversight and Accountability; Regulated Industries; and Rules.
various committee appointments, including the Long Range Planning Committee, UFCVM Admissions Committee and UFCVM Advisory Committee on which he now serves, 25 years and counting. Dr. Snyder operated Snyder Animal Hospital, P.A. in Jacksonville for 43 years. He also served in active duty as a Captain in the Veterinary Corps of the United States Army. Dr. Richard Sutliff nominated Dr. Snyder along with the JVMS, and described the example set to the veterinary profession by his distinguished service, saying: “Each meeting of the JVMS saw Dr. Snyder offering guidance either in parliamentary procedure, Robert’s rules, community perception, and other areas that allowed his wisdom to be shared throughout the North East Florida Veterinary Community.”
PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Representative Kathleen Peters was awarded FVMA Legislator of the Year on April 10. She was presented with the award at the FVMA Annual Awards Ceremony and Officer Installation which took place during the Association’s 86th Annual Conference held at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa in Lake Buena Vista, Fldorida from April 9 – 12, 2015. Representative Peters is the FVMA 2015 champion in the Florida House of Representatives. She is the sponsor of HB 1049, the companion bill to a Senate bill being considered during the present legislative session, which will allow veterinarians to administer and/or dispense a compounded medication to patients. In presenting Representative Peters with the Legislator of the Year Award, FVMA President Don Morgan thanked her for sponsoring the bill in the House and for appreciating the importance of this aspect of veterinary care to veterinarians in the state of Florida.
Denise Reed Team Member of the Year Award Denise Reed is a valued technician at the Animal Clinic at Kelly Crossing in Fort Meyers, Florida. Her employers describe her as having a joyous personality with great people skills. As an “invaluable” member of the team at Kelly Crossing, Ms. Reed participates in all aspects of the operation of the practice. She has worked in the veterinary field since 1998, as a veterinary assistant technician. She is credited with having great people skills and was commended by Clinic Director, Dr. Richard Carpenter for her commitment to the best care and treatment of patients. Assuming a role as teacher and mentor, she shares with other staff members, and she assists the local CVT veterinary technology program as a mentor to students who frequent the Animal Clinic at Kelly Crossing as part of their course of study.
Amanda Bouton, CVT
CVT OF THE YEAR AWARD
Amanda Bouton of Jacksonville, Florida is the practice manager at Hidden Hills Animal Hospital of Jacksonville. She also functions as a Staff Information Meeting Specialist, and meets and shares regularly with other hospital staff members throughout Northeastern Florida. Mrs. Bouton has practiced as a CVT for 10 years. As practice manager at Hidden Hills, she handles the day-to-day operations of the practice, maintaining and motivating the healthcare team to provide the best in patient care. She provides leadership at her workplace and in her profession. She has served on the Board of SanfordBrown Veterinary Technician Program, and currently sits on the Board of Directors of Heritage College of Veterinary Technicians. She also shares her talents working for children. Since 2013, after a mission trip through her church to an orphanage in Haiti, she has lead another mission trip to Haiti, and currently sits on the Mission’s Board of Directors. She and her husband Chris are foster parents to four children, who along with their two sons, make life at home as busy as her professional one.
Donald A. Thompson, J.D., CVPM CITIZEN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Donald “Don” Thompson lives in Valrico, Florida, and works as a practice manager and as Executive Director of the Hillsborough Animal Health Foundation (HAHF). His work engages him in issues relating to the health and welfare of animals in Hillsborough County, the education of the pet owning public about caring for their pets, and advocacy on behalf of the veterinary profession. Don Thompson has been very involved in the Trap Neuter Release (TNR) debate on a local level, but he has also represented veterinarians on the state level for the FVMA in Tallahassee on multiple occasions. He was instrumental in creating the AWAKE! Campaign that included TENVAC (Trap-Evaluate-Neuter-Vaccinate and Contain) as an alternative to traditional TNR. As the Executive Director of HAHF, he organizes and assists with HAHF’s “Pit Bull Vaccination Day” where hundreds of pit bulls from low income areas are examined, vaccinated and micro-chipped. He recently headed a new pilot charitable hospital project, Vets 4 Pets, which opened in January. The charitable hospital provides spays, neuters and basic veterinary services to low income verified citizens and rescue groups in Hillsborough County. Its focus is on decreasing pet overpopulation, and education for low income citizens in the community about zoonotic diseases that can affect their health. www.fvma.org | 7
Gold Star Gregory D. BonenClark, DVM, DACVS Dr. Gregory BonenClark currently serves on the Florida Association of Equine Practitioners (FAEP) Council. He was the 2012 FAEP President. Dr. BonenClark played a pivotal role in the successful merger in 2011, of the FVMA and the FAEP. The positive and powerful alliance forged with the merger makes it possible for Florida to continue to be a premier provider of equine-exclusive education in the South East. His serves the veterinary profession further to the next generation of veterinary medicine practitioners, as he is closely involved in the planning and implementation of the biannual FAEP Student Appreciation Day, held in Ocala. Dr. BonenClark founded Equine Sports Practitioners several years ago and has been instrumental in the creation of Florida Equine Veterinary Associates, LLC of Ocala. He is a board certified surgeon specializing in lameness and performance issues. Anjanette Cabeza, DVM Dr. Anjanette “Anjie” Cabeza was a key player in ensuring veterinarians played a role in determining the direction and implementation of the 2014 Miami-Dade No-Kill Legislation. She addressed the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners and urged them to reconsider a plan to build new veterinary facilities for spay-neuter services, and instead allow private practice veterinary hospitals to provide these services to the county. Along with colleagues of the South Florida Veterinary Medical Association (SFVMA), Dr. Cabeza successfully convinced the Commissioners to fund private practice spay- neuter services, which would also provide support to local Humane Society and Animal Services Department programs. 8 | FVMA ADVOCATE
Award Recipients
Dr. Cabeza has 20 years of experience in small animal medicine and surgery, and owns Doral Centre Animal Hospital. She is also founder of the Cabeza Foundation, which provides financial assistance to pet owners whose pets have life-threatening conditions, but can return to normal function with the appropriate care. Rick Diaz, DVM
Dr. Rick Diaz was one of the SFVMA’s task force that was involved in informing Miami-Dade County Commissioners that veterinarians in that county were the key to the successful implementation of the county’s No-Kill Legislation. Dr. Diaz, along with his fellow veterinarians who successfully convinced commissioners on how to reduce euthanasia numbers in the community through a collaboration with private care practitioners, demonstrated the importance of grassroots advocacy in the protection and strengthening of the veterinary profession. He graduated from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, and worked for a year at a local hospital in Miami, before establishing The Pet Care Clinic of Doral in 1992. Dr. Diaz is the past president of the SFVMA and has been on its Board of Directors since 2003. Robert H. Encinosa, DVM Dr. Robert H. “Bob” Encinosa, is an outstanding leader in the veterinary profession. He has served on several FVMA committees, and volunteers as a member of the FVMA mentoring panel that meets with students at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine to exchange information and advice to assist with their transitioning
from the classroom to the exam room. He is the current President of Hillsborough County Veterinary Medical Society. Dr. Bob Encinosa operates Boyette Animal Hospital in Riverview. In addition to his busy schedule caring for patients, he is a member of the school advisory committees for Boyette Springs Elementary and Riverview High Schools, the UF College of Veterinary Medicine Advisory Council, is a member of the Dean’s Circle of Excellence, the Veterinary Management Group Executive Committee and Recruitment Chair, Founder and caretaker for the Boyette Springs Elementary School Nature Preserve, and the Medical Director of C.A.R.E. Animal Shelter in Ruskin, Florida. Amanda M. House, DVM, DACVIM Dr. Amanda House is a past president of the FAEP, and she currently represents the FAEP on the Executive Board of the FVMA. Dr. House is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Florida. A large animal medicine clinician in the university’s equine hospital, she coordinates equine continuing education and outreach programs at the College, and is also the Director of the Practice-Based Equine Clerkship Program and the Equine Research Program. Dr. House became board certified in large animal internal medicine in 2005. Her professional interests include neonatology, infectious disease, and preventative health care. Dr. House is active on committees for the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
Rachel Klemawesch, DVM Dr. Rachel Kelly Klemawesch represents District 4 on the FVMA Executive Board, which is comprised of Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and
Sumter Counties in West Central Florida. She has served on several FVMA committees and is currently on the Animal Welfare Committee. She is past president of the Pinellas County Veterinary Medical Association, and serves on the Board of Directors of Pinellas Animal Foundation. Dr. Klemawesch holds two degrees from Auburn University. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Language (German), graduating Cum Laude in 1992, and then she received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1996, from the university’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She is presently Medical Director and Associate Veterinarian at Northeast Animal Hospital in St. Petersburg.
veterinarians and team members, and is the driving force behind the publication of the FAEP’s equine-exclusive journal, The Practitioner. With over 30 years of diversified equine experience, Dr. Moretta offers a comprehensive, whole horse approach in caring for the equine athlete. She is internationally trained in advanced equine acupuncture and uses a complementary approach to maintain comfort and soundness. Dr. Moretta has a background as a professional hunter/jumper rider, owner, trainer and breeder of sport horses and Hanoverians. She travels nationally and internationally as a consultant on various aspects of equine sports medicine.
Marta Lista, DVM Dr. Marta Lista is past president of the SFVMA and currently serves as the head of the Legislative task force in her district. The task force worked in 2014, with the Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners to institute the board’s partnership with county veterinarians to implement the county’s No-Kill Legislation. Dr. Lista was Florida’s 2015 emerging leader, and represented the FVMA at the 2015 AVMA Veterinary Leadership Conference in January. Dr. Marta Lista has been a member of the FVMA since 2001. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Florida in 2000, and her B.S. from the University of Miami in1996. Born and raised in Miami, Dr. Lista was selected by the Dean of the University of Florida as one of two practicing veterinarians in the state of Florida to serve on the College of Veterinary Medicine Admissions Committee.
James L. Mosley, DVM Dr. James L. Mosley has been actively involved in Jacksonville Veterinary Medical Society and has served as its president. He has worked to promote veterinary medicine to the public as a practicing veterinarian at Mandarin Animal Hospital, which he owns and operates in Jacksonville. He began working in the field of veterinary medicine at the age of 16, after spending a childhood loving animals and working with them at fairs and in riding events. Dr. Mosley attended the University of North Florida before enrolling at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine for his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine which he received in 2008. In veterinary school, he earned a number of honors, which included membership in Phi Zeta Society, the Elsevier Small Animal Surgery Award (judged by the faculty to have the best psychomotor skills in small animal surgery), the Clarence and Lucille Dee Scholarship, and he graduated Magna Cum Laude. His areas of particular professional interest include surgery, dentistry, dermatology and internal medicine.
Anne Moretta, VMD, MS Dr. Anne Moretta is past president of the FAEP and has been a dedicated steward of the FAEP and advocate for the veterinary profession, as a member of the FAEP Council. She has shown selfless commitment to the successful execution of CE programs for equine
Suzan C. Oakley, DVM, DABVP (Equine), Certified Member ISELP
Dr. Suzan C. Oakley is an equine veterinary professional who has been an FVMA member since graduating from the University of Florida College of Veterinary
Medicine in 1991. She is past president of the FAEP, and remains on the Council, where she lends her expertise in planning and executing equine-exclusive CE programs that attract equine veterinarians from across the US and around the world. Dr. Oakley travels regionally and nationally to provide specialist level sports medicine and diagnostic services. She currently divides her time among her busy clinical practice carried out in Orlando, Ocala and Wellington, national speaking engagements, and instructing veterinarians in advanced ultrasound techniques. She is one of ten certified members of the International Society of Equine Locomotor Pathology (ISELP) in the United States. Dr. Oakley values being adjunct professor in the Practice Based Equine Clerkship program of the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, which keeps her in touch with students to exchange new ideas and broaden their educational opportunities. Maria Oliveira, DVM D r. Maria Oliveira advocated for the veterinary profession when she and colleagues Drs. Lista, Cabeza, and Diaz, successfully advocated before the Miami-Dade County Commission to institute the board’s partnership with county veterinarians in the implementation of the county’s No-Kill Legislation. Ever since she was a little girl in the Dominican Republic, Maria Oliveira wanted to heal animals. She operates South Miami Animal Clinic, an animal hospital for dogs and cats, which provides boarding, dental care, surgery, ultra sounds, and pharmacy services. Dr. Oliveira’s clients place a lot of confidence in her as their trusted veterinarian. “There's no one I would trust with my best friend's life more than Dr. Oliveira,” says one of the many glowing online reviews about the service she provides. www.fvma.org | 9