Just the Right Thing to Do
by Will Yurman
There were tears. And hugs.
Dr. John Bachmann was retiring and closing Oceanside Veterinary Hospital. Goodbyes and thank yous and sadness filled the office on the last two days of 2024. One client bought pizza for the staff. Others dropped off cards and candy.
Janice Ann Kinslow cried as Dr. Bachmann examined her two Boston terriers, Betsy Ann and Jessica Ann. Then she cried again as she said goodbye.
But Dr. Bachmann was feeling relief. A series of health issues: fused vertebrae, type 2 diabetes and a small stroke forced his hand. But it was a hand he’d been trying to play for a few years, and he was ready to move on.
In October, he felt a piercing stab in his head. “I woke up on a Saturday morning. I felt like someone was driving a metal rod into my temple. I didn’t think stroke,” he said, describing that day. He mostly ignored it and went to play ping pong as usual. Though he did notice he was more tired, and spent most of the rest of the weekend resting.
It was only on Monday, when his staff pushed him, “bless their souls,” that he went to the emergency room, where he learned he’d had a stroke. Most days since he came to work with a headache.
Bachmann wanted to be a veterinarian since the 8th grade. Though he wonders about the paths not taken – singer and sommelier are both on that list. And it’s in the last few years, the “burn-out years,” he calls them, that he wonders if he made the wrong choice.
As a young vet student and then newly minted veterinarian, he imagined being James Herriot, perhaps the world’s most famous real-life veterinarian.
Herriot, whose real name was James Alfred Wight, cared for both large and small animals in England and wrote about his experiences in a series of books, including All Creatures Great and Small.
But Bachmann couldn’t find that kind of job. “So I gravitated towards the small animals and the companion animals,” he said.
His first job was in downtown Bakersfield California. He spent a year in the city before moving on, first to Simi Valley in California, then Medford, Oregon and finally Florence in 2006. He bought Oceanside Veterinary Hospital in 2011. It has been one of just two veterinary clinics in town.
He was bullied in grade school, Bachmann said. And his parents worked full-time. So it was the dogs and cats that comforted him. “Our pets give us unconditional love. For me, they provided a source of love and comfort when I didn’t have other outlets.”
The coming weeks and months will be busy with closing down the hospital, and all the business and legal issues that surround that. John Bachmann is still hoping to sell the business. There has been some interest, but no offers, at least not yet. The other option may be bankruptcy.
Separate from his own financial concerns is a worry for his now former clients and their pets. “This town really needs another veterinary hospital or just needs more veterinarians, period. They’re already going to Veneta or going to somewhere else. And, it would be much better if they if they didn’t have to go anywhere,” he said.
Ultimately that will be someone else’s concern. Bachmann is dreaming of singing and gardening. He wants to fix up his house and he wants to travel. And now that he has time, he hopes to find someone to share those dreams and his life.
“I want to retire now. Give me the time to travel, albeit maybe on my own. But I’m not quitting because I’m single. I think I’m quitting to be able to get out there and and look and to try.”
Every time a client hugged him, and cried and said goodbye John Bachmann reminded them he wasn’t going away. He would see them in Fred Myer or at the gym playing ping pong or at Jerry’s singing karaoke on Monday nights. And as he told one client, they could, of course, say hi. Just don’t ask what’s wrong with their cat. That’s a question for someone else now.
