Mt. Pleasant Animal Hospital Through the Years

Mt. Pleasant Animal Hospital opened its door to treat area pets on June 3, 1969. Dr. James Weickert, with the help of Mt. Airy Animal Hospital, designed and built the first animal hospital to serve the Fairfield area. At the time, much of Fairfield was still undeveloped farm lands. Dr. Weickert graduated from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1963 and started his career in Finneytown at Grady Animal Hospital. He had dreams of opening his own veterinary hospital and practiced from the basement of his house while Mt. Pleasant was being designed and built.

On June 3, 1969, the entire staff consisted of Dr. Weickert, Clair – receptionist / assistant and Bobbie – technician / assistant. In the early days Clair and Bobbie “did it all”. Both worked at Mt. Pleasant until their retirements 28 and 41 years later! Dr. Robert Wolterman graduated from Ohio State and joined the practice shortly after opening in late June, 1969. He worked at both Mt. Pleasant and Mt. Airy until the early 1970’s. A few of the veterinarians from Mt. Airy Animal Hospital would work one day a week at Mt. Pleasant in the first few years. One veterinarian actually lived at Mt. Pleasant for a while.

In 1976, Dr. Donald Clinger graduated from Ohio State and joined the growing practice. By then, Dr. Weickert and Dr. Wolterman were working full time at Mt. Pleasant and Dr. Clinger was dividing his time between Mt. Pleasant and Mt. Airy. Though we still practice in the original building, it has changed over the years – originally, there were only 3 exam rooms. As the practice has grown, we have performed renovations to update the building and keep up with ever-evolving medicine. By 1984, Mt. Pleasant was thriving and growing in its Fairfield location. Mt. Pleasant purchased its independence from Mt. Airy Animal Hospital and became its own business entity.

The Doctors at Mt. Pleasant have always encouraged and mentored area students interested in Veterinary Medicine. Eight future veterinarians started their journey volunteering at Mt. Pleasant, including two of our current doctors – Dr. Steven Sawdai and Dr. Wendy Sawdai. They both worked at Mt. Pleasant during the 1980s before graduating from Ohio State in the early 1990s. Dr. Sawdai graduated in 1993 and joined Mt. Pleasant, which coincided with Dr. Weickert’s retirement. Dr. Wolterman’s retirement in 2008 brought the addition of Dr. Hall. And our most recent change was in 2016 when Dr. Clinger retired and Dr. Wendy joined the team.

Mt. Pleasant Animal Hospital has had an incredible and dedicated staff over the years. Many of the employees (technicians, receptionists and assistants) have worked at Mt. Pleasant for over 20 to 30 plus years. Staff members universally say they love helping pets, seeing the friendly faces of clients they have befriended over the years, and the “family” they have become at the hospital.

Lastly, medicine has changed vastly over the past 50 years and Mt. Pleasant has kept up with the changing demands of veterinary medicine. Parvo broke as an emerging virus in the mid 1970’s and whole litters came in ill with no vaccine available at first. Heartworm disease, feline leukemia and many other diseases emerged as “new diseases” that we now prevent, diagnose and treat with regularity. We now have advanced blood tests, imaging and diagnostics that mirrors human medicine. As veterinary medicine continues to evolve, so will the doctors and staff of Mt. Pleasant.