Alison Animal Hospital Bringing Fresh Ideas To Prospect Park West

Windsor Terrace neighbor Alex Klein was in his late 20s, quickly climbing the corporate ladder of success, when his sister Alison was diagnosed with cancer.

“I was overseas when she was going through the whole thing with the chemo,” he told us. “She was 18 or 19 when she died, and it was like a trigger went off in my brain. I thought, this isn’t what life is about. Life isn’t about waking up, working for banks, making a lot of money, trying to get the nicest this, nicest that.

“That loss really opened up the idea that life can be a lot different,” Alex continued. “It needs to be different, and it can be different.”

It wasn’t until a business trip to Amsterdam, though, that Alex discovered his new path.

“I was in Amsterdam working on a project,” he explained, “and my (now) wife Lisa flew over and said, ‘You love animals, why don’t you be a vet?’

“I said that was crazy,” Alex laughed. “I’m not smart enough to be a vet. I’m never going to get into those schools.

“Something kept telling me to do it, though,” he continued, “so I worked during the day, and I took a few classes like pre-calc and chemistry at night. Before long, I started to find my rhythm.”

Alex left his job, sold his apartment, and used the money to keep plowing his way through school. The hard work paid off, and he was ultimately accepted to Cornell, where he graduated in 2009.

Since graduation, Alex has worked with organizations like Hope Veterinary Clinic and North Shore Animal League, but recently, he began to explore the possibility of opening his own hospital.

“I did a feasibility study,” he said, “and I chose Windsor Terrace and another area, Riverdale in the Bronx. They’re both such great communities, but this neighborhood was preferred. I mean, Brooklyn is Brooklyn.”

That’s when the commercial property at 224 Prospect Park West, between 16th Street and Windsor Place, hit the market.

“I wasn’t planning on doing this now,” Alex told us. “I was planning on waiting a year or two so I could build up some serious orthopedic skills, but when it opened up, I had to grab it.”

Alison Animal Hospital, named after Alex’s sister, whose image can be seen in the hospital’s logo, is scheduled to open in July of this year. The space, which was formerly part of Terrace Bagels, is still under construction and is designed to greet pets (and their humans) with an open, comfortable environment, focusing on quality over quantity; elements that Alex hopes will cut down on some of the stress associated with visiting a vet.

“A lot of animal hospitals will squeeze in as many exam rooms as possible, so they can crank out as many appointments as possible,” said Alex. “When you come in with your stroller, though, and your dog, and your husband or your wife, and then there’s a tech, and there’s me, it’s just crazy. Who the hell wants to deal with that?

“So,” he continued, “I’ll probably not have the ability to make as many appointments, but hopefully people will feel like it’s spacious, and it’s relaxed. It’s better medicine when everyone is relaxed.”

More than just a business, Alex wants the community to see Alison Animal Hospital as a supportive extension of their family, where neighbors can turn with any questions or concerns they might have about their pets, without feeling like they’re caught in the sterile, and costly, medical machine.

“There was a lady across the street that we met when we were out for a walk one day,” recalled Alex. “She works at the post office, and after seeing our sign, she asked if we were going to be very high end.

“My rates are going to be standard,” he said. “I mean, I have to charge what I have to charge, but I said to her, ‘Look, we’re part of the neighborhood. We’ll work with people.’

“We have to be careful, of course, not to give away the store,” Alex continued, “but we’ll have things like a senior citizens day, or just a general discount day. We don’t want to come across as this big giant factory. We’re going to be able to be nimble.”

Downstairs, the facility will feature things like an x-ray room, surgery, and dental area, so that the hospital can take care of all of their patients’ medical needs, as opposed to sending animals around the city to individual speciality centers.

As the construction marches on, Alex is working on building a team of veterinary professionals that will help Alison Animal flourish, but at a realistic pace.

“I’m trying to bring young, smart people to the team,” he said, “who haven’t been doing this for thirty years, and who have new fresh ideas and enthusiasm.

“We’ll find our space,” Alex said, “and we’ll evolve, and we’ll do our own independent thing, but we’re going to be a young practice, and I want us to hit the ground walking, not running.

“I’m just so excited to be standing here,” smiled Alex, “because it’s been a long road. Years at City College, years of vet school, years of training, North Shore was insane. I’d sometimes do 25 surgeries in a day, but it was worth it. It took me to this.”