Opened in 1979, the Fairhaven Veterinary Hospital has grown to be an integral part of the Fairhaven Neighborhood community.
Founder, Dr. Dan Hall, spent most of his formative years living with his grandfather who was a veterinarian always surrounded by family pets. He first conceived of Fairhaven Veterinary Hospital during a brief stay in Bellingham in 1974. After working in several other practices, he became dissatisfied with the typical “high-pressure” environment that often short changed clients, patients, and staff. His dream was to develop a practice where high-quality care was the foundation, a place the entire staff would enjoy utilizing their skills and talents as a team, and a hospital where pet owners were treated with respect being considered part of their pet’s health care team.
Upon deciding to take the entrepreneurial risk of establishing such a practice in Bellingham, it took four years of careful planning, permitting, construction, and a large loan to set his vision in motion. When the doors finally opened in February 1979, there were two employees that were guided by the motto of “Helping People and Their Pets!” At first glance, this may seem backwards, but the truth is that none of our patients come in without a person and without people pets don’t get much help!
Since 1979 there have been myriad changes and developments in the City of Bellingham and the veterinary care industry. The building has been expanded two times, a full remodel has been completed in August 2016 and we now employ 28 people, including a hospital administrator and practice manager. Through all the changes, our philosophy of compassionate, high quality care and a team of employees that are highly valued has remained, becoming firmly established as one of Fairhaven Veterinary Hospital’s core beliefs.
Dr. Hall retired in August of 2016, having served the companion animal community for over 40 years. Today, Dr. Mark Kummer and Dr. Wendy Zawoysky form a cohesive family-based ownership team and ensure that the FVH vision always revolves around honesty, integrity, compassion and a sense of belonging to a community. They place a great trust in each staff member to always make sure the customer is receiving the best care possible.
In July of 2018 the Fairhaven Veterinary Hospital achieved its most remarkable achievement to date by becoming a Fear Free certified hospital, the 23rd hospital in the entire nation to have received the honor! This certification process was intensive and took the entire team 2 years of training and hard work to obtain. By becoming a Fear Free Certified hospital, our team of dedicated veterinarians, nurses, and support staff further demonstrate our commitment to compassionate care for pets and their people!
