Suann Hosie DVM

Dr. Suann Hosie founded VAEC at its current leased premises in 1978.  She is the sole shareholder of Vancouver Animal Emergency Clinic, Ltd.  At first, the practice operated during the hours when family practices were closed.  Suann took on most of the shifts initially (14 hours on weeknights, 22 hour shifts on the weekend) but soon recruited other veterinarians and support staff who shared her Philosophy of Practice and were dedicated to emergency care. 

In 1985, AnimalER “went 24 hours”.  It was always Suann’s goal to serve those patients who needed round-the-clock veterinary care; and to provide the referring veterinarians with a service during the day for their patients who needed more critical care than their facility could provide.

Suann was born and raised in Saskatoon; she graduated from Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, in 1966.  After doing locum work in England that summer, she passed the Board examinations in California and practiced there from the fall of 1966 until the summer of 1978 when she returned to Canada to establish VAEC.  During her years in California, she became interested in emergency practice while she and 32 other veterinarians in the San Francisco Bay area started one of the first emergency clinics in North America, Northern Peninsula Veterinary Emergency Clinic.  She was the Chief Veterinarian and Administrator there from 1972 to 1978.

In her role as Hospital Director, Suann interacts with all of the AnimalER team members.  But it is her team of approximately 28 hard-working individuals who ensure the practice runs smoothly on a day-to-day basis.

In addition to emergency medicine and surgery, Suann’s areas of professional interest are ultrasound and radiographic imaging; and cat and dog behaviour.  She has served various professional organizations as a committee member as well as holding office.  She is a Past President of the British Columbia Veterinary Medical Association.

Listeners of CBC Radio One may catch Suann on the noon program, Almanac, when she visits as the resident veterinarian, answering callers who pose a wide range of questions about their pets.

Suann has lived in a townhouse in West Vancouver since 1978.  Her current menagerie consists of two thirteen year-old indoor cats, Sid and Pretzel and two smooth fox terriers: 10 year-old Piton and 7 year-old Emmy.  All of her pets were adopted. 

Suann is an active birder.  She keeps fit by running with her dogs in Lighthouse Park, powerlifting and workouts.  Suann travels frequently, both to see birds and also to chase total eclipses of the sun, following her motto: “To live long and explore the natural world”.