Dana Hodges-Helget 

Dana has been a member of the Jules Veterinary Team since the beginning. She started in September of 2002 and has been a staple to the front office ever since. She loves to greet clients and bond with many of our patients. She attended Foothill Community College and specialized in the AHT program. Since then she has had 3 beautiful children; Jessie, Ashley and Scottie and loves to spend time with them when she can. Her animals are also full of character which include a Doberman named Sebastion, Cheddar a flame point Siamese mix, a turtle named Crush, and an array of goldfish.  Dana enjoys shopping, sports, and visiting family and friends.

 

Katie Pacheco 

Katie is a jack of many trades. She started working at Jules in 2006 as one of our kennel assistants. She “graduated” to reception in 2009 and also helps on the nursing team. Katie is another member of the team who was born and raised in Tracy and graduated from Tracy High in 2006. When she is not at working, she can be found giving horse back riding lessons, cooking, off-roading in her truck, or with friends and family. Not only does she have a large family that consists of 3 other sisters to keep her busy but a large animal family as well. Katie has two cats named Ricky and Bobby (yes, named after Talladega Nights), Jaz her palomino horse, Luci an Australian Shepherd, Bryant a Labrador Australian Shepherd Mix, and “Badey Madey” the Basset Hound she bought for her husband's birthday. Madey is one of the main reasons why Katie can empathize with clients; she is prone to eating things she should not and getting herself into mischief. 

 

Kristen Beitzel 

Kristen has an ever changing addiction to re-inventing her hair and the colors may be different every time you come into the hospital. She joined Jules Veterinary Center in March of 2005, moved to San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly and worked as a surgical nurse. She returned in July of 2008. Kristen completed her B.A. in business and marketing from Tiffin University, graduated from VMC's school of veterinary practice management in September 2011 and plans on taking her CVPM (certified veterinary practice manager) exam in March 2012. She enjoys balancing her time between Lathrop Veterinary Center and Jules Veterinary Center and assisting the doctors and staff any way that she can. Her black Labrador Retriever Nietzsche is a certified service dog and goes everywhere Kristen does. Nietzsche usually spends her time at Jules napping on the couch and is used to demonstrate to owners how to properly clean ears and give pills. During her free time Kristen enjoys painting, road trips, yoga, photography, concerts, movies, and going on long walks with Nietzsche.

 

 

Lori Rivera

Lori is a central valley native who grew up in Tracy California. After graduating from Merrill F. West High School she attended Los Positas College with a major in business. She soon realized that she wanted to work with animals and graduated from Western Career College with an A.A. in veterinary technology. Lori joined the Jules Veterinary Center family in December of 2004. She is a loving mother to her sons A.J. and Alexander, Snoopy the Pug, Howie the Labrador Retriever, and a cat named Tyrone. Lori loves to be outside and spends the majority of her free time with friends and family.

 

Claudia Moritz 

Claudia is behind the scenes assisting with the nitty gritty of the front office responsibilities. After being a long time client, she actually joined the Jules team in January of 2008.  Claudia obtained her MBA in business and previously worked at a bay area doctor’s office. Claudia has a passion for dance including tap, ballet, acrobatics, and modern jazz. She even shared her passion by conducting dance lessons. Her house is also full from the pitter patter of three pugs’ paws running around named Peekachu, Baby, and Mickey, which she enjoys since her son Jordan is attending the University of the Pacific and is not home on a regular basis. When Claudia has free time, she strives to stay fit by riding her horse Roos and works to improve her golf game.

 

Jessica Hoover

Jessica joined Jules Veterinary Center’s client services team in April of 2011. Over her lifetime she has been surrounded by animals which include a Rottweiler named Rocky, Nike her father’s working police dog, her mother’s West Highland Terriers named Bernie and Mac, and her sister’s Golden Retriever named Titan. Although she does not have a pet to call “her own” there is never a lack of animals in her environment. Jessica has a passion for helping others and looks forward to working with local rescue groups and shelters to better the lives of the animals in her community. Jessica enjoys spending time with her family; especially her son Orion who she is raising to be a die hard Oakland A’s fan like herself. Other than baseball Jessica loves to bowl in a family league and challenges her father on finding better music than she can (which she usually beats him). During the summer months you can find her with her boyfriend Jon and her son in PiPi Valley. While the “boys” ride their dirt bikes she prefers to relax near the river. She will be the first to admit that riding a dirt bike is too dangerous for her, but she didn’t hesitate to go sky diving when the opportunity presented itself too her. Jessica aspires to one day be a business owner and is currently teaching herself how to build a website to better prepare herself for this professional adventure.

 

Jen Drew 

 

Sarah Sciarini

Sarah’s bubbly personality makes her a great addition to the customer service team. She joined Jules Veterinary Center in May of 2010 and enjoys building relationships with our clients and patients. Sarah has a background in communications, and graduated from Cal State Stanislaus with an emphasis in public relations. She would love to tour Europe eventually, but at this time occupies her time by scrapbooking, baking, photography, gardening, and catching up on her favorite shows with her husband. Sarah and her husband Matt also have a sweet spot for rescuing animals. Scout, their Golden Retriever mix was adopted off the street from a homeless family and has been entertaining them ever since. Interestingly, Sarah is one of the only vegetarians on our hospital team and enjoys many meatless ethnic foods, especially if they are spicy.

 

Bridgette Felver 

Bridgette may be a petite blonde, but don’t let that fool you. She has a large personality and is the nurse who is prone to kissing all the animals who come in. She joined the Jules Veterinary Center nursing team in April 2008 and has been empathizing with our clients ever since. Bridgette is a Tracy native who graduated from Merril F. West High School and continued her studies at Western Career College where she graduated with an A.S. degree. She has a large array of animals including her three legged cancer surviving Rottweiler Biscuit, 4 other dogs (Sadie, Blue, Dixie and Daisy), two cats Simon and Smokey, and her horse Blaze. When she is not at work she would rather be outside enjoying the sunshine, or even the rain. Her passions include camping, bike riding, and hiking.

 

Amy Reynolds 

Amy was born and raised in Tracy California and is Merril F. West High Alumni. After graduation, she pursued her A.S. degree and became a registered veterinary technician (RVT). She has been a member of the Jules Veterinary Center team since 2005 and specializes in surgical procedures.  Amy also enjoys working on her parents cattle ranch and aspires to have a herd of her own. When we say she has a farm, this is no understatement. Not only does she manage a couple hundred head of cattle, she has 3 dogs (Tootsie, Ellie Mae, and Annie Oakley), 2 horses (Walt and Rowdy), and a stubborn donkey named Buster. She looks forward to having a family, someday winning the lottery, and sitting at a black jack table with great friends.

 

Terra Kim

Terra joined the client services team at Lathrop/Jules Veterinary Center in October of 2011. She brought with her seven years of previous experience as well as a passion for learning new things and helping clients understand their pet’s health. Growing up she was very close to her grandparents who instilled a love for taking care of wounded and abandoned animals. Eventually, both her grandparents developed dementia and Terra used the compassion and unconditional love they taught her to take care of them. Although it was one of the most challenging things she ever had to do, it made her who she is today. Being so involved in her grandparent’s lives had a huge part in Terra’s future education and career path. Terra graduated from CSU Sacramento in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in Micro Cellular Biology and minor in Zoology. In her free time she loves going to San Francisco Giant's games, camping, traveling, reading, and crafts. "The Girls" (Roxy Ruff Ruff the Yorkshire Terrier, Pinky Puppy a mixed breed, Lilly Lu Lu an English Bulldog, and 2 cats named Cali-fornia, and Timmy Lincecum) also take up a large amount of Terra’s time; which she enjoys every second. Because her husband is quite out numbered by females, they also have 9 fish which they refer to as “The Boys”.

 

 

 

Jeannine Parker 

Jeannine, one of our kennel assistants has been married for 37 years and is happily the mother of 2 and grandmother to 4. If that wasn’t enough, she also has two Boxers named Rookie and Boomer, and a cat named Jake. Obviously she spends a lot of time with her family and pets, but when she has a moment to her self she loves to garden, read, go on long walks, and get caught up on movies. Jeannine also has a passion for traveling and recently visited Israel. She plans to add many other countries to her passport book.

 

Becky Teese 

 

Jessica Reed

Jessica jumped aboard the veterinary nursing team in January of 2012. She came to us with 6 years of experience in the field after graduating from Western Career College and obtaining her RVT license. Jessica has a passion for animal rehabilitation and would love to specialize in massage therapy and acupuncture. Her love of animals started at a young age and she even bred boxers during high school for her FFA projects. Currently, Jessica and her husband share their house with a small “pack” of animals that include; Shelby and Moose Chihuahua mixes, Cassius a Boxer, Ruger a German Shepherd mix, Deuce a terrier mix, and the ruler of the roost a rescued chinchilla named Chip. In their free time, Jessica and her husband love to take the dogs out on walks and adventures at the park. They also share a love of rebuilding their 1970 Volkswagon Beetle.

 

 

 Lisa Pollard

Lisa is a small town girl who was born and raised in rural Michigan. She made the journey to the west coast in the August of 2010 and quickly jumped on board as one of our Registered Veterinary Technicians. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Technology from Michigan State University and enjoys learning new things every day. Interestingly enough Lisa has extreme allergies to many of the animals she works with; even with this obstacle she would never change her career. She enjoys spending time with her Yorkshire Terrier Tucker, her rambunctious nephew, and has a strong love for photography. Lisa is also passionate about animal rights, therefore does not eat beef or pork.  

                                                                                            

 Melissa Guillen    

Melissa has had a passion for animals ever since she can remember. She spent the majority of her time growing up with her grandparents who had quite the farm. Her childhood memories blossomed into a career path; leading her to the veterinary industry. After graduating high school she knew exactly what she wanted to do. Melissa joined Jules Veterinary Center’s customer service team in January of 2011. Eventually she plans on continuing her education and becoming an RVT. Melissa spends her free time cooking with her grandparents, dancing, and loves teaching her daughter Alayna how to properly care for their Chihuahua named Bear and their extremely large cat named Moose.

                           

 

 Chelsea Pollard

Chelsea joined the client services team in December of 2011. She was recruited onto the team by her sister Lisa who is one of our veterinary nurses. Like Lisa, Chelsea is a Michigan state native and could not help but follow the rest of her family out to California. She graduated with her Bachelors in Human Resource Management from Michigan State University and aspires to be an executive. Chelsea can be constantly found watching movies, listening to music, or just enjoying the outside scenery. 

 

 

Brittany Gaches 

Brittany is an outgoing individual who graduated from Tracy High School in 2011. During her high school career she was extremely involved in Mock Trial, FFA (Future Farmers of America), and even gave the commencement speech for her graduating class.  Ever since Brittany can remember, she has wanted to be a veterinarian and specialize in equine medicine. Joining the kennel technician team at Jules Veterinary Center in July of 2011, will help Brittany reach her goal.  She will also attend Delta College for two years prior to transferring to a four year university. When she is not immersed in her studies she loves to swim, draw in her sketch book, and spend time with friends. She also takes care of her own little zoo that includes Roxy a Labrador Retriever, Sassy a Teacup Poodle, Jazz a fancy rat, Fluffy a Hairless Rat, and Pip Squeak a Russian Blue Rat.

 

 

Amanda Speake 

Amanda is a northern California native who has been in the veterinary community since 2007. She joined the Jules Veterinary Center team in July of 2011 and can be found in all areas of the hospital. She is what we like to call a “floater”, meaning she works with the reception, kennel, and nursing teams. She admits that she enjoys a good challenge and can never turn down a dare. If it was up to her she would be outside hiking, wakeboarding, or taking a ride on the back of her fiance's street bike. At this point her furry friends include two Boxers named Laila and Lucy, Gus the Rottweiler, Lily the cat and her two horses Gunner and Gracie. Amanda is currently enrolled at Delta Community College where she has already completed an AA in Liberal Arts and Sciences and is now working towards her BS in Biological Sciences. Her long term goal is to attend Veterinary School.

 

Jana Van Caster 

Jana joined the Jules Veterinary Center Kennel Technician team in September of 2011. Shortly after graduating Tracy High School she relocated to Walnut Creek to pursue her Associates in General Education. Between her studies she gained experience in the veterinary world by working as general assistant in a Walnut Creek veterinary hospital. Eventually she took a break to her raise her daughter and assist her husband with their family business.  Jana has always had a passion for helping animals in need; her “zoo” consists of Wyatt an Australian Shepherd, Gatsby an Arabian, Lucy & Ethel two chickens, rats rescued from a hoarder who was featured on A&E, some special need cats from a rescue group, and abandoned pigeons who could not be released into the wild. Jana loves to train with her horse Gatsby, target shoot, read (if she has free time), spend time with family, and follow the Nascar circuit (Go number 88)!