Meet the PBEC Team: Hospital Manager Holly Hall

To properly operate an equine hospital, each member of the team must have the same goal in mind: high quality health care. Strong teamwork and leadership are essential, and Palm Beach Equine Clinic is fortunate to have our Equine Hospital led by Holly Hall. Born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida, Holly has been an indispensable member of Palm Beach Equine Clinic family for over five years.

Get to know PBEC Hospital Manager Holly Hall

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What is your background with horses?

My parents introduced me to horseback riding lessons when I was young. I originally rode English for a few years before finding that I had more of a desire for speed. I started barrel racing when I was eight years old and haven’t stopped since. My parents bought me my first horse when I was about nine years old, and soon that one horse turned into multiple horses. Throughout my high school years, I went to school in the mornings, worked at the barn in the evenings, and barrel raced on the weekends.

What was your original role at Palm Beach Equine Clinic?

Originally, I joined PBEC as a part time night technician and have since worked my way up to Hospital Management. Since my first days at PBEC, I have always loved the endless knowledge and experiences that I encounter and grow from every day. I immediately took an interest in emergency and surgical cases. I took every opportunity I could to experience and learn as many new things as possible about equine health.

Although my official position has always been with the hospital, I have gained experience in other aspects of the clinic throughout my time here. I am one of PBEC’s primary surgical technicians, have skills in preforming laboratory procedures, have worked with multiple doctor’s as their ambulatory technician, traveled to horse shows with our team, transported emergencies in our ambulance, and much more! I am always eager to lend a hand and take advantage of any opportunity to learn something new.

What are your daily responsibilities?

Throughout the day I manage patient care, hospital organization and our team of hospital technicians. I am responsible for updating patient’s Clinician Orders as per doctor’s orders and scheduling each patient’s treatment plan for the next 24 to 48 hours. The hospital technicians use these Clinician Orders to treat each patient and update medical records. Along with the technicians, I assist in completing treatments, procedures, surgeries, laboratory tasks, assist with admittance and prepare hospital patients for discharge. I also ensure that the hospital is well-stocked for any patient needs.

I am responsible for managing the technicians and their work schedules as we are an Emergency Hospital. The hospital is staffed with skilled technicians 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This includes all holidays and throughout storms. Our hospital team is responsible for the care of all PBEC patients, including the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)/surgery, Isolation (Quarantine), Annex (horse show) and Imaging stalls. Although our responsibilities seem endless, our hospital staff has a great system of communicating and we are dedicated to working hard for our patients and clients.

What aspects of Hospital Management do you most enjoy?

I really enjoy the intensity of helping with emergency cases and working in a surgical setting. Being a part of the initial work up, diagnostics, and watching our patients progress on their road to recovery is very satisfying. You never stop learning in medicine, and I appreciate the endless opportunities that I have to learn. 

It is also interesting to be able to work with such a wide variety of horses. As technicians first and foremost, we must have the skills as horsemen to recognize the horse’s behaviors for personality traits versus potential changes to the state of their health. Carefully recognizing these symptoms and abnormal behaviors contributes to each patient’s treatment and enables us to make sure the horses are as comfortable and happy as possible.

Although our work is focused on the horses, we work with a large team of people to provide with best care possible. All our staff –veterinarians, technicians, interns, residents, specialists, surgeons, laboratory, pharmacy, imaging, and office administration –contribute to high quality patient care. I enjoy being a part of this team and watching all our efforts come together for our patients and client needs.

When not in the Equine Hospital, what do you enjoy doing or where can we find you?

My husband and I love being outdoors. We typically find ourselves out in the woods, on the water, or (of course) on the back of a fast horse! We mostly enjoy air boating and barrel races during our free time. Enjoying the company of our close family and friends, while doing what we love the most.