On the heels of success

Catherine Coloccia, the 2021 Practice Manager of the Year award winner.

Catherine Coloccia, practice manager at Bridgewater Veterinary Hospital in New Jersey, says she first fell in love with the veterinary industry after working as an overnight receptionist at a 24-hour emergency animal clinic over 10 years ago.

“The industry itself was so fitting to who I was as a person that I knew this is where I wanted to be permanently,” Coloccia said. “We work in this industry because we all love animals and animal health, but there is a huge component of human emotion and communication that I’ve always had a passion for...so I knew this was what I wanted to do, excel in and advance in even more as I spent time in the field.”

Over the course of her 4 years as a practice manager at the Bridgewater Veterinary Hospital, Coloccia has achieved numerous noteworthy goals, such as enhancing client communication, advancing hospital services, acknowledging employees’ progress, and helping them reach new heights. One of her most impressive accomplishments is transitioning from outsourced to in-house dental services.

“We were using a certified dental technician to perform all our dentals for many years. They were very good, however, it had several negative impacts on the practice: We were very limited on the dentals that we could perform, and it was definitely a financial burden to hospital profits,” Coloccia said. “Then on the employee side, it was very limiting because I had senior employees who had never performed a dental, which is a huge component to their career. I felt their education and skill development was lacking.”

The conversion to in-house dental services was no easy feat. Coloccia’s team initially expressed a concerning lack of confidence in this project, education and training had to be implemented and the hospital had to invest in new dental equipment. Despite these hindrances, the outcome was well worth it, she notes.

“In September of 2019, we finally completed our goal and started doing in-house [dentals], and we saw the value almost immediately. It was a [huge] hurdle to climb and [we faced] a lot of challenges...but now we have significantly increased the volume of dentals we can do per week. We’ve seen tremendous growth in profit,” Coloccia said, adding that the dental services are now used as a training and career growth platform for technicians.

Heel collection obsession

Coloccia has an affinity for wearing heels to the clinic—displaying her professionalism and authority.

Coloccia is known for wearing heels to work daily. This trend started years ago when she was a young tour guide in Washington, DC. She recalls wearing heels while walking up and down the monument stairs when giving tours to school children. “I had calves like rocks,” she said with a chuckle.

Along with feeling comfortable in heels—and enjoying shopping for them—Coloccia says wearing them contributes to her professional presentation and displays her authority.

“Walking into work with heels [on] sort of commands an aura of leadership without speaking, so if I have to address a client or a team member...there’s already a noncommunicated aura of leadership.”

Coloccia is known for sporting her signature pair of red heels. However, it’s not the bold color that captures her team’s attention, it’s the clicking that allows them to locate her throughout the hospital.

Meet Mooney, the blue-eyed cat

Coloccia has a white-haired, sapphire blue-eyed cat named Mooney that was born in Cairo, Egypt. When Coloccia worked at another animal hospital, her client who ran a rescue organization flew
in a large number of animals from Egypt. The clinic closed that morning to focus strictly on performing exams on these pets.

“I didn’t have any pets at that particular time, so I [said], ‘You know what? I’ll take 1 animal, and that’s it... but let me know if she has a potential adopter.’ Then 3 [to 4] weeks went by [and] they had a potential adopter, but by that time—of course, like anybody else—I’d fallen absolutely in love with her,” she said. “They called me and I [said], ‘No, I’m her adopter.’”

Pros of being a practice manager

“I absolutely love pets, but I love the people equally, if not more. I love the communication, the client and staff education, and cheering on the staff's accomplishments. I love being able to make decisions based on EQ [emotional quotient] and really connecting with my staff and clients,” she said.

“My other favorite part about this job is bringing pets back up to owners after they've been with us for a period of time. They’re always so happy and I love to see the joy on the owner's face as well. It’s one of the rawest expressions of joy, and it always makes me smile."

Short and long-term goals

In the short to medium term, Coloccia says she will prioritize promoting well-being and happiness among staff during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re focusing on first and foremost the mental well-being, the work-life balance of my employees—that is 100% first. Then trying to continue to provide the best medicine and client experience possible with the way things are right now,” she said.

For the long term, Coloccia will strive to continue to enhance staff education and development by offering her team new career advancement opportunities and will remain dedicated to amplifying the overall client experience.