The VetStart WV program did not get funded in the budget in the 2024 WV Legislature. Its supporters will likely try again in the future.
WV has a veterinarian shortage just as the rest of the nation does. It has become apparent as our state has implemented the WVSNP program and received additional out of state funding to FOHO WV from the MZM Foundation to further support the spay neuter effort. We are forever grateful for the funding but it does show that our lack of vets is an issue.
However, there may be a solution with the effort to start the first four-year veterinary technology program, VetStart West Virginia. It is a program academically based at West Virginia’s Land Grant Universities (West Virginia University and West Virginia State University). The intent is to have veterinary technicians/technologists assisting veterinarians thus freeing them to perform more essential duties and foremost for FOHO even more spay neuter procedures. The AVMA suggests 4 veterinary techs to 1 veterinarian but in WV the ratio is 1 veterinary tech to 9 veterinarians. It makes sense that this nationwide veterinarian shortage which is so negatively impacting WV could be helped with this program. What can we in the animal welfare community do to help this program get started? There is budget funding needed from the WV State Legislature for the VetStart Program. You can read more about the program below. Then call your legislators on the Senate and House Finance Committees to support the budget funding request by the Dept. of AG for the VetStart WV program.
VetStart – Brochure on VetStart WV
You can visit fohowv.org to see the list of counties and the vet availability in each of those counties.
If there is a Delegate or Senator from your area on one of these committees, please reach out to them and the chair and vice chair of the committee. It would be prudent to contact all the committee members to seek their support. If you are a recipient of the grant money tell your story of success & how you & WV need this VetStart program. This may be our solution for increased spay neuters in our state. With this national crisis of a vet shortage, WV will have trouble competing. We need to reach for the low hanging fruit and get what we can to assist the veterinarians in our state. It cannot hurt to offer the 4 year degree either for our young people in their career choice.
Senate Finance Committee
https://www.wvlegislature.gov/committees/senate/SenateCommittee.cfm?Chart=fin
House Finance Committee
https://www.wvlegislature.gov/committees/house/HouseCommittee.cfm?Chart=fin