We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jonathan Block. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jonathan below.

Jonathan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

The vision of Mindful Veterinary Care is to pioneer a veterinary model where the main focus of our business is supporting the people from the ground up. We care deeply about every individual that walks through our doors- the employees, the clients, and patients. We strongly feel that if people are supported and treated with kindness, compassion and respect, that they will be more motivated to perform at their best. The end result is better work environment, better medicine, better outcomes, happier clients, and a growing, thriving business.

Our mission at Mindful Veterinary Care is to provide our patients and clients with individualized, integrative, mindful veterinary care in a sophisticated, welcoming, healing environment.

I started West Delray Veterinary and went on to expand into opening Mindful Veterinary Care with the intention to create veterinary business model where the focus is on investing in a really positive, nurturing, fun, enjoyable and engaging workplace. The culture is what creates that foundation that drives the organic growth of the business. What I mean by this is, I truly believe that if the team feels supported, is well cared for and enthusiastic about the work and the company mission, then this will translate into better results. In the veterinary space, this means that we are delivering better patient care, better client service, and we are getting more satisfaction out of the work. Everybody benefits- The clients, the patients, and the team!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Founder and CEO of West Delray Veterinary and Mindful Veterinary Care

After eight years in a leading New York City veterinary practice, Dr. Jonathan S. Block, DVM CVA CCRT, a Fort Lauderdale native, returned to southeast Florida to open West Delray Veterinary in 2019. After two years of running a successful practice, Dr. Block was passionate to expand into Mindful Veterinary Care in Lake Worth, Florida. In addition to providing the highest standards of medicine and surgery, Dr. Block practices an integrative approach to veterinary medicine, including wellness care, acupuncture, nutritional supplements, hydrotherapy, and comprehensive rehabilitation.

Equally crucial to Dr. Block’s therapeutic approach, he is passionate about the unique relationship between pets and those who care for them. As previous co-owner and medical director of New York’s distinguished Water4Dogs – Canine Rehabilitation Center, he has cultivated highly-regarded expertise in enhancing the quality of life for special needs dogs, including disabled and elderly pets, as well as those recovering from trauma or experiencing chronic illness.

“While I love all of my patients, there is something special about helping the special needs, senior and geriatric populations that really moves me. As veterinarians, there is so much we can do by just taking some extra time and consideration to tailor our treatments for patients in their respective life stage. This is particularly true for our special needs and gentle senior pets”

Dr. Block received his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in 2010. He received Acupuncture Certification at The Chi Institute in Ocala, Florida in 2012 and Canine Rehabilitation Certification from The Canine Rehabilitation Institute in Coral Springs, Florida in 2014. He continues to pursue ongoing training from both institutes in these areas.

“When I decided to make the academic and professional commitment to pursue Veterinary Medicine, the realization that I could spend every day of my life making a positive impact on the lives of animals and people became my underlying driving force. Today, I feel honored and privileged to be a part of such a unique and fulfilling profession. I am deeply committed to continuously expanding my skills in both conventional and alternative medicine so I can offer the highest quality of care to my patients and clients”.

Dr. Block is passionate about creating a positive work environment and strongly feels that supporting the team is one of the most critical pillars of a solid business foundation. His vision for Mindful Veterinary Care is to pioneer a veterinary model where the main focus of our business is supporting the people from the ground up. He cares deeply about every individual that walks through our doors- the employees, the clients, and patients. Dr. Block strongly feel that if people are supported and treated with kindness, compassion and respect, that they will be more motivated to perform at their best. The end result is better work environment, better medicine, better outcomes, happier clients, and a growing, thriving business.

“I started West Delray Veterinary and went on to expand into opening Mindful Veterinary Care with the intention to create veterinary business model where the focus is on investing in a really positive, nurturing, fun, enjoyable and engaging workplace. The culture is what creates that foundation that drives the organic growth of the business. What I mean by this is, I truly believe that if the team feels supported, is well cared for and enthusiastic about the work and the company mission, then this will translate into better results. In the veterinary space, this means that we are delivering better patient care, better client service, and we are getting more satisfaction out of the work. Everybody benefits- The clients, the patients, and the team!”

Outside of the office, Dr. Block enjoys running, biking, hiking, yoga, live music, art, but most of all, spending time with his wife Jill, his daughter Violet, and their furry family members.

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We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

While the veterinary profession is a very rewarding line of work, it can come with some significant challenges. Like many other health professions, veterinary medicine experiences a high degree of burnout, compassion fatigue, and higher than average suicide rates.

While living an working hard in New York City, shortly after my daughter was born in 2017, the entire world started crashing in on me. The long, hard work hours, combined with sleepless nights of a caring for newborn, and the financial pressures of keeping up with the pace and cost of living in Manhattan all started to impact my mental health. Suddenly I found myself experiencing many of the negative aspects of the profession- burnout, depression, compassion fatigue. I was suffering and it hit me like storm.

When I approached my employer (and business partner) about it, he was unsupportive and took a, “You don’t know how good you have it” perspective. As his highest performing associate veterinarian, and one who was considering expansion with him, I quickly realized that he did not have my best interest in mind, and that my future was not going to be in New York City.
It took some soul searching, but I knew that this approach to veterinary care and running a veterinary practice wasn’t the way for me. The business of veterinary medicine did not have to be this way. I didn’t believe that all on the employees don’t need to be worked to the point of burnout. That is not sustainable for any business.

This is where the concept for West Delray Veterinary and Mindful Veterinary Care was born- one where we create a wholesome, positive, supportive and inspiring workplace culture and use that as the foundation to provide unparalleled advanced, integrative, mindful veterinary care!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

One of the foundations of any solid business is to provide excellent and consistent customer service, and in my case, patient care. In the US, something like 90% of franchises succeed, whereas 80% of small businesses don’t make it. The reason why franchises are so successful, is they master the art of setting and meeting their customers expectations.

At West Delray Veterinary and Mindful Veterinary Care, we focus on practicing very high quality medicine for our patients and on creating a remarkable client experience, in a clean, modern, enjoyable setting. When our clients interact with our brand- through social media, on the phone, on our website, in the office- every step is thoughtful, supportive and consistent. This level of care and attention to detail is what leaves a positive impression on the client and allows them to create an emotional bond to our brand and our team.

Equally as important, we operate our business and professional practices in a very honest and transparent manner. Our true motivation is to care for our patients and our clients, not to make money. If the business is rooted in honesty and transparency, then our clients will trust that we truly have their best interest in mind. That is most important foundation for our business and our reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.westdelrayvet.com. www.mindfulveterinary.com
• Instagram: @westdelrayvet, @mindfulvetcare
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westdelrayvet/; https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085497794709
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mindfulvetcare/; https://www.linkedin.com/company/westdelrayvet/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@westdelrayveterinary3267
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/west-delray-veterinary-delray-beach; https://www.yelp.com/biz/mindful-veterinary-care-lake-worth