We love to listen, so we can help guide you on a path to nuturing, healing and caring for your pet. Education is the key to helping your pet live a long healthy life. Get to know us here, or schedule an appointment so we can learn more about who you and your pals are!
Dr. David Hood was born and raised in Chalmette and has no intentions of ever leaving. His education started at OLPS, followed by Holy Cross. He completed his undergraduate and veterinary medicine educations both at LSU where he graduated from in 2012. He has been an employee at St. Bernard Veterinary Hospital since he was 16 years old! He climbed the proverbial totem pole from kennel staff, to technician, to veterinarian, and finally to part owner. His special interests include soft tissue and orthopedic surgery, both of which he is extremely skilled. He is president of the veterinary board in St. Bernard Parish. His dedication not only to veterinary care (here and all over the parish) and to the parish itself is undeniable. Since returning to Chalmette after school, he has been very passionate about making the parish the caliber it once was and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of that vision. He shares his life and his work with one of our other veterinarians, Dr. Alex Amster. Together they have two daughters (twins) and a pitbull “Lulu”.
Dr. Jay Newbill has lived in Slidell his entire life. He completed his undergraduate education at Southeastern University and received his DVM from LSU in 1987. The transition from a lion to a tiger was quite easy for Dr. Newbill because he is a die-hard LSU fan. During football season, his phone can be heard from exam rooms playing the notorious fight song. He worked at St. Bernard Veterinary Hospital from 1989-2002 and then left to work at Ponchartrain Animal Hospital from 2002-2007. We were lucky enough to get him back in 2007 and he has been here since. He is also part owner and blesses us with his veterinary wisdom – almost 30 years’ worth! If you’d like to be added to his list of favorite clients, mention LSU tigers (football and baseball), duck hunting, or Destin. He leans on his wife, Maria, and children, Maria and Christian, for a break from work life.
Dr. Alexandra (Alex) Amster is a transplant to our beloved Louisiana! She was born and raised in Stamford, CT (a suburb of New York City.) She completed her undergraduate education at the University of Rhode Island and received her DVM in 2012 from Ross University in St. Kitts (the Caribbean – how nice!) She needed to complete her clinical year of veterinary school in the US so she decided LSU would be a great place to do one last crazy thing before returning to a job offer in New York. Once she met Dr. Hood at LSU, she never left! Her special interest is dentistry. She has been thoroughly trained by her mentor, Dr. Ritchie in Baton Rouge (a boarded veterinary dentist), and stays up to date on the most current information on the subject. Because of her, we are one of the only general practices in the St. Bernard area offering oral x-rays and state of the art equipment to perform oral surgery and other oral assessment and treatments (no more plain ‘ol teeth cleanings for us.) She is particularly fond of Pitbulls, especially her own (“Lulu”.) She and Dr. Hood have two daughters (twins.)
Dr. Jason Farrell is a new addition to our team! He was born in Harrahan and grew up in Covington. He completed his undergraduate degree at Southeastern University with honors in Zoology. He then went to LSU for veterinary school and graduated in 2002. He worked on north shore for seven years before opening his own practice in Hammond in 2009. He then opened a second practice in 2017. He sold both practices in 2021 and enjoyed a little time off before deciding he wasn’t ready to give it all up yet. We met him and snagged him up. He now works here every Wednesday and every other Thursday. His special interests include endoscopy and ultrasound. He is married and has three children.
Donna is a key stone in our reception department and has been here since 1977! Anyone who has a problem (staff and client alike), wants to have Donna be the one to fix it. She is loved for her compassion, sympathy, and ability to be forever energized. Don’t be fooled – should you cross her, you will feel the wrath (she always wins.) St. Bernard Veterinary Hospital would not be what it is today without her and we hope she continues to drink from the fountain of youth so she never leaves.
Meghan is one of our head technicians and her skill level and knowledge is hard to match. Besides being a tech, she has many management/office/operation responsibilities as well as being our go-to with all of the computer software.
Amanda is one of our head receptionists and has been here since 2006! She is usually doing multiple things at once and always staying busy. She runs the front desk and is in charge of client care and communication.
Brittney is our other head technician and has been here since 2007! Brittney, too, is incredibly knowledgeable and skilled. Brittney maintains our inventory which is no small feat. Any drug or product in this hospital is her responsibility. On top of inventory responsibilities, Brittney has also been our lead surgical technician for all of the doctors on staff.
Mandi is our kennel leader. We know she is awesome at her job because when people come to drop their dogs off they run to her and completely forget about their human parents. She loves the animals as if they were her own. Mandi also manages our food inventory which is a huge undertaking.
Valerie just started working here as a kennel worker and we were in such need of a technician that we quickly threw her to the wolves and she has not missed a beat! We can’t wait to watch her grow.
Bridget has been here since the summer of 2021 but she is a great worker and it feels like she’s been here for years. She is great with clients and always good for a laugh.
Rachel is our groomer and has been here since 2005! She has always been a loyal team member and we think she is the best groomer in da’ parish but we may be partial.
Laurie is our newest receptionist member and also a long-time client. She is a little quiet but still manages to put up with our staff insanity with a smile on her face. She is also Valerie’s mother so that is really fun for us.
Maria is one of our receptionists and is also Dr. Newbill’s daughter. She definitely does not abuse that advantage as she is a very hard worker and very knowledgeable about the inner workings of the front desk. She recently got married and her husband is active duty Navy and currently deployed. When he comes home, the world will be their oyster and we will be sad to see her go.
