VERG- Veterinary Emergency and Referral Group

Absolutely phenomenal hospital! My pup, Daisy, has osteosarcoma and had to have her leg removed. Dr. Cohen was amazing in diagnosing her and explaining next steps and options. And Dr. Morgan was brilliant and did such an amazing job with her surgery, and saved her life. The staff have really gone out of their way to make her feel comfortable while she was admitted and all the other doctors too giving us regular calls through the day with updates. I really love this place and am grateful for the great care they are taking with Daisy!

This place has been a nightmare from the beginning an extremely expensive nightmare costing us almost $6,000 so far. The first time I brought my dog in to be seen by VERG they mixed him up with another dog and went as far as bringing the wrong dog out to me to be discharged! Absolutely horrifying they could be so negligent and that is just the beginning, two days later it happened again!!! I had been called and told my dog was ready to be picked up and he hadn’t even started the procedure yet so it was rushed and done extremely poorly. They’ve sent me out with new meds and no directions and then when I call and ask to be called back by a nurse I wait 2 full days while my dog has a huge open wound and the bandage that was supposed to last 3 1/2 days hanging off and poorly taped on. Causing me to go back to the ER. If you love your animals and want them to have the best care DO NOT COME HERE. They are money hungry and will do whatever to extend your pets stay and get the most money out of you. Below i will attach some pictures of how they discharged my dog. He has been dirty and even had a cone with feces all over it. Absolutely horrible experience here at VERG. The many times I’ve asked to speak with an office manager I still haven’t been contacted by one.

VERG saved our cat's life. Huge heartfelt Thank You to Dr. Jin and the entire care team of VERG! Our cat Lexie had a major accident last year - she got out on the balcony of our new apartment, jumped on the railing, slipped and fell from 5 stories high. She fell on her butt, fractured her pelvis in several places, broke her back leg, and a finger on her front paw. There was a bone from her pelvis fracture puncturing her skin. She was in critical condition and underwent hospitalization and major surgery at VERG. Her surgery was successful and she went through a long process of recovery, but ultimately recovered 99% and is having a happy life again knock on wood. It pains me to look back at photos from that time, but wanted to share some from our story. From our time at the hospital visits we were allowed uninterrupted daily private time with her, her crawling on her own my chest right after release, the joy of her grooming her head after we removed her front paw cast... It was a long and painful recovery, from her not being able to move one bit and being in a lot of pain, to her now being able to run again and jump easily on top of our kitchen counter :. She wouldn't even be alive today if Dr. Jin and his team had not done this incredible work. Side note, in the process of visiting a local clinic for Lexie's cast replacement, we discovered that Dr. Jin had actually trained our local emergency vet surgeon, which only speaks to his volume of experience. We can also tell in our interactions with him that he was truly invested in our cat's well-being and recovery. Positives: - Our cat recovered fully and is living a happy life again - The surgical and medical staff in general is the best there is in our NYC area see their credentials, and education, and note they even train other vets - they take on the hardest and riskiest cases, which is weighing down their overall rating - All of VERG's staff was very compassionate and truly invested in our cat's recovery - We were allowed uninterrupted daily visits after Lexie was no longer in critical condition, in a private room Negatives: There are some areas of improvement that I have to mention, which may be helpful to other people to know, as well as for the clinic's administration to address. - Cost & Estimate - in total we spend ~$25K at VERG, which was more than double their initial estimate of $12K max our referring local vet took X-Rays and VERG staff was well aware of my cat's condition before admitting her and providing me with the $12K estimate; the higher final cost wouldn't have changed my decision to proceed with her care, but I wish I was better informed of potential added costs upfront so I can begin planning for the severe financial strain this caused - Final Bill - a procedure we did not elect for was added to our final bill. I almost overlooked it, but thankfully my wife didn't, saving us $4K of potential added cost. If you choose VERG, itemize and take your time to review each line of your final bill with the staff carefully. Don't be afraid to be annoying like me and make sure you know everything that you've been charged for. In our case I'm certain this was a mistake, but we only caught it due to my wife's persistence. - Communication Delays - likely due to extremely occupied staff. Here we assumed no news is good news, but we would have appreciated somewhat more timely updates, as promised, especially during the time Lexie was still in critical condition. It was also incredibly difficult to get a hold of anyone by calling in and spent huge wait times even to just be connected to reception. As anyone, I'd rather have the doctors be saving pets vs spending time on the phone with owners, but there has to be a way to improve communication with pet owners. Again, what really matters to us is that Lexie is now well and happy. One more thank you to Dr. Jin and Verg's care team! If you're here, having finished reading this long review, I hope your pet also gets the best care possible and recovers fully!

My 9 year old cat Rufio was referred to get an MRI as he had been limping and in pain for over a week and x-rays didn't show anything conclusive. I made an appointment at VERG for a consult on 8/19 with Dr. Rivera. I was informed when booking that the MRI itself could be scheduled for a later day or that same day, but we ended up being able to do the MRI that day and even got the results back from the consult before I left the vet - so we could determine a targeted treatment immediately. Every person there spoke with empathy and knowledge about the best care for Rufio. Apologies for any names mispelled But special thanks to Assad who checked over all of Rufio's records and took detailed notes and was beyond kind and considerate when handling Rufio. I was so touched I did cry when he told me he kissed Rufio's head when he was put under anesthesia for the MRI to let him know he was loved I'm crying now. And thank you to both Assad and the Vet technician Sonya for being exceptionally knowledgeable and patient while I had a lot of questions to discuss. My nerves were extremely high and I felt all of the staff I met with were extremely compassionate and reassuring. They gave me plenty of time to review the cost and explained the breakdown thoroughly, because I have pet insurance I felt it was within reason but for uninsured folks I imagine it could feel out of reach. I feel very grateful to have had Dr. Rivera's time and knowledge as she helped me understand the MRI images and what to expect as far as outcomes, potential diagnosis, and treatments. I felt I could really trust her judgement and expertise every step of the way. While in this case we received the best possible outcome I felt prepared for whatever it could have been and appreciated the alternate treatments discussed as well. I'm so glad to have Rufio home with a clear diagnosis and plan thanks to VERG's support and expertise. The communication throughout the day was constant and clear, calling me before the MRI started, during it, and immediately after. I felt that I was never out of touch with them as they cared for Rufio the whole time.

My dog, Henry, had two mast cell tumors removed by Dr. Morgan who did an excellent job. I would not have felt comfortable having my regular vet perform this surgery to get clean margins as the tumors were in complicated locations. My dog is now under Dr. Cohen's care for chemotherapy. She is very thorough and takes time to answer all of my questions. The staff here are great and make things more pleasant even when the news isn't. A BIG shout-out to Dominique who goes above and beyond to take care of us pet parents, whether it's rescheduling, getting questions answered by the doctors, or just a smile and a hug.

MY DOG WOULD HAVE DIED IF I STAYED HERE!!! DO NOT COME TO THIS VET!! My dog had a serious allergic reaction so I took her to this vet. Her face was swollen, she was broken out in hives, and she had trouble breathing. I waited over two hours to be seen so I went to the front desk to ask how much longer and they said there are other pets who need to be seen more than mine??? I ended up leaving and making an emergency stop at my normal vet and they took me right away. Shoutout to Heart of Chelsea Park Slope! They had told me if I stayed any longer at the emergency vet, MY DOG WOULD HAVE STOPPED BREATHING!!! MY DOG WOULD HAVE DIED IF I STAYED HERE! I’m so glad I ended up leaving VERG!!!!! DO NOT COME TO THIS VET!!!

The surgeons and care team at Verg absolutely saved our cat’s life. She had a bladder rupture and needed emergency surgery. The surgeons were great with communicating to us what was happening and why, providing updates on her status and helping us understand next steps. They were incredibly thorough with making sure the surgical repair had been effective and that she was stable enough to come home. Our cat hates taking oral medications so they even helped us with daily medication injections for her after-care. Yes, the cost of care was high roughly $13K in total but this is just one more reason why pet insurance is SUCH a good idea so that when emergency strikes you’re not in a position of choosing between cost or your pet’s life. Our cat would have died that day without the medical care at Verg. Now she is back to her normal healthy self!

Our normal vet sent us to VERG to see a specialist when our dog was very sick. While the wait was a bit lengthy 1.5-2 hours, we were very happy with the care we received. The staff, nurses, and vets were all helpful, were very patient when we were stressed, and seemed very competent. Our vet took great care of our dog: he consulted the specialist we came to see, he was very thorough with his examination and tests, and answered every question we had. He even called our normal vet who sent us to update her on our dog. The facilities were very clean and comfortable to wait in. Also, I was surprised how reasonable the cost was. I know not everyone has a good experience, but we would come back.

Last week was very extremely hard for me to make the difficult decision to have my sweet boy to get euthanized due to melanoma cancer. Never an easy moment to say goodbye to him. Popo, you are always in our hearts and with love always from mommy and daddy!! Also, super thankful to everyone at VERG for showing Popo the love and support he needed before leaving us. Thank you!!

My cat needed emergency care twice in 2022 and both times VERG did an amazing job. They were so communicative and called me a couple of times to let me know what options for care were, and make sure I was OK with/gave consent for any procedures my cat needed. They also provided documentation quickly when I needed it for my pet insurance claims, and answered questions that I had over email about the state of his stitches, etc. Overall we were just really happy with everything in a really difficult situation where our cat could have died. More than a year later and he’s doing fantastic. We can’t say thanks enough to the VERG staff for taking such good care of our little dude in his time of need