The love Dr. Jerry Rodenbarger has for his patients shines on his face as he talks about his career as a veterinarian for the past 30 plus years. The founding partner of Vale Park Animal Hospital, Dr. Rodenbarger’s favorite part of practicing is creating a relationship with pets and their families. “Veterinary medicine is about taking care of the whole family. These pets are family members…you grow so connected with these pets and their owners…it’s amazing,” he shared.
Pursuing a career as a veterinarian was not Jerry’s original path in college. “I went to Purdue because ever since I was old enough to understand, my mother told me I was going to college to become a doctor and take care of her,” he laughed. Jerry enrolled in the pre-med program but during his third year, decided to apply to veterinarian school. Growing up on a horse farm, animals had always been a part of his life and after being accepted by the program, Jerry switched paths. “Over the years, I would occasionally second guess whether that was the right decision,” he stated, “but friends would say there’s no way I would survive because I had difficulty losing patients in the animal career and they didn’t think I could handle loss in the human career.”
After graduating in 1979, Dr. Rodenbarger initially began practicing in South Bend, at an entirely small animal hospital. Because of his horse background, Jerry wanted to take care of large animals so he moved to Valpo in 1981 and began caring for horses along with cats and dogs. In 1990, Vale Park Animal Hospital was purchased, becoming a three partner hospital in 1995 with Dr. Randi Olson and Dr. Mary Ann Sheller. “We all have different qualities that we bring to the partnership,” said Jerry, “It can be a challenge with three different viewpoints but it keeps the practice moving forward in a positive direction.”
The hospital has grown from one full-time doctor, 1 part-time doctor, and 4 employees to 5 doctors and nearly 40 employees, with as many registered vet techs as doctors. Vale Park is continually advancing in its technologies to provide better services to the patients, having added CO2 laser surgery, which controls operative bleeding and post-operative pain, in-house digital radiography, ultrasonography, and minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery. From the canine reproduction standpoint, Vale Park is the only freezing center (seman) in the state.
“Our goal is to continue to provide cutting edge, state-of-the-art medical care to our patients,” Dr. Rodenbarger reinforced. “The biggest challenge is trying to maintain a high-level of customer service and satisfaction that comes from a small, local operation. It is still our goal is to have people come in and walk out with that feeling you get when you think, ‘Those people did everything for me. What a wonderful experience.’”
Having served the community for over 30 years, Dr. Rodenbarger often sees senior patients that were once puppies in his practice. “It’s important to be there for these folks when they’re a puppy…and when it’s an end-of-life situation, making sure their beloved pet is cared for in a loving manner,” he shared, talking about a very recent situation in which he had to come in at 1 am on Sunday morning to put down a yellow lab with severe health issues that he had treated as a puppy. “We were all sniffling together.”
The doctors and staff at Vale Park are dedicated to serving the community not only through giving their patients the best care, but also by partnering with local organizations to help raise money and awareness in many areas. Vale Park has worked with the Independent Cat Society, donating and discounting services, as well as cleaning and doing vet care each year for the Day of Caring. They also partner with Lakeshore PAWS, the Valpo Police K-9 Unit, and Relay for Life, in raising money to help those groups succeed.
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2606 Valley Dr
Valparaiso, IN 46383
Phone: 219-462-5785
“Our staff is unbelievably engaged in efforts to help with those projects,” shared Jerry. On an individual basis, Dr. Rodenbarger serves on many boards, such as Housing Opportunities, Valpo Parks Foundation, YMCA, and IVMA (Indiana Veterinarian Medical Association). “If you can’t be engaged in your community, you miss so much.”
“It’s a blessing to be able to do this and work with this dedicated group of people and help the wonderful people of our community,” smiled Dr. Rodenbarger, “To play with puppies and kittens is a bonus (let’s not talk about the ones that bite and scratch)!”
