| Complaint: | Complaint 21-40 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Andrew Tornell |
| Premises: | AZPetVet North Buckeye Animal Hospital |
The complainant says her family has been taking pets to North Buckeye Animal Hospital for 12 years and has no problem with the clinic; she just has a problem with Tornell. Her dog had a growth on a stomach and Elliott recommended surgery; Silverstein did the surgery and sent the tissue off for histopathology. Tornell called and said the results were in and she needed to call. She called the next day and was told Tornell was busy with patients; she said that she would be fine speaking with any veterinarian. She tried back before closing time but Tornell was still busy and no other veterinarians were available; she says the receptionist (Perez) was condescending toward her, so she told her so, and said she would call a senior veterinarian in the morning. Tornell called back within half an hour warning the complainant to "never disrespect my staff member again" and spent the next ten minutes lecturing her on how to save their client-provider relationship. She relates that she asked ten separate times, with her husband also on the call, to please just be given the results; he allegedly told her that he would just email her the results if she wouldn't listen to his lecture. After ten minutes he told her the dog had stage 2 cancer with a life expectancy of 3 months; he also told her to stop calling the clinic so frequently. The hospital manager called the next day to apologize.
Tornell's response says that the complainant was told she'd receive a response before the end of the day; that's in the medical record but there appears to be no recording of it. He also says that the complainant called and had a conversation with the staff member in question (the interaction that led to the issue) and there's even an audio file of that call. For his call, he states that it was reported to him by staff that the complainant had been disrespectful on the phone, so he called to give the lab results and explain to the complainant how their clinic works. He insists he "worked to maintain a professional conversation with the owner." There's also an audio recording of that call. (One can't help but be curious if they record all calls or not, and also if Tornell was being selective in what calls he sent recordings of. Who knows?)
The Investigative Committee said that they could understand the complainant's concerns and that she was "essentially held hostage" listening to Tornell in exchange for getting her dog's results. They said that everyone's under stress right now because of the "current environment" (coronavirus made him do it?) and felt Tornell used poor judgment; on the other hand, it's not poor enough for them to do anything about it, so it slides.
| Source: | April 4, 2021 AM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Andrew Tornell | Respondent |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Roll Call: | |
| Carolyn Ratajack | Aye |
| Christina Tran | Aye |
| Jarrod Butler | Aye |
| Robert Kritsberg | Aye |
| Steve Seiler | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | May 5, 2021 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Proposed By: | Jessica Creager |
| Seconded By: | Darren Wright |
| Roll Call: | |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Aye |
| Jane Soloman | Aye |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Aye |
| Nikki Frost | Aye |
| Robyn Jaynes | Aye |
| Sarah Heinrich | Absent |
| Result: | Passed |
The primary source for the above summary was obtained as a public record from the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board. You are welcome to review the original records and board meeting minutes by clicking the relevant links. While we endeavor to provide an accurate summary of the complaint, response, investigative reports and board actions, we encourage you to review the primary sources and come to your own conclusions. In some cases we have also been able to reach out to individuals with knowledge of specific complaints, and where possible that information will be included here.