Dr. Melissa Eisbruck wants to make pets comfortable at her new animal hospital. She included details that may seem insignificant to humans, like a separate waiting area for cats, specialized tables that move larger dogs and non-slip mats so animals feel secure on tables at her new animal hospital.
“They’re just so loving,” she said. “And it’s like they know you want to help them.”
Eisbruck opened Town Animal Hospital of Manhasset with her husband, Robert Eisbruck, last Monday. The couple said the business was transformed from a defunct automotive shop – one of the only spaces that fit their zoning requirements in the area. That required them to start from “ground zero.”
“I have no friends who are vets or doctors who would do this, starting their own thing. This is crazy,” Melissa Eisbruck said. Robert Eisbruck agreed, adding that the construction and starting everything “from scratch” was a challenge.
The couple noted the dwindling number of independently-owned animal hospitals. There is an increasing number of corporations entering the veterinary world, Stateline reported last year. As of January 2024,one out of every three for-profit hospitals are owned by private equity investors. When private equity takes over, hospitals may face closures and cutbacks, Stateline reported.
“That’s taken away the human element of it,” Robert Eisbruck said. “There’s an opportunity to provide a personalized service for something that’s extremely important to people.”
Veterinarian clinics that are independently owned are often outdated, Melissa Eisbruck said. “A lot of these older gentlemen [have] older places that haven’t been updated in 30 years. Neither has their medicine, and animals are such a part of the family. Now the medicine gets better and better and closer to the quality of human medicine in the ways of chemo and radiation and all the things we can do.”
She wants the modernity of their practice, which she calls a “labor of love,” to be reflected in the facility’s design choices. “I want people to feel that a clean, current, modern space is an example of the care they’ll get from me,” she said.
Robert Eisbruck said that advanced technology differentiates the practice on the business side, too. “It makes the day flow better, and allows our staff to go home sooner because we can get all the work done, and everything is right.”
The couple has been married 19 years. The perfect storm of circumstances – including their children gaining independence and his successful career on Wall Street – made the transition possible. “We couldn’t have done it if we wer
She worked as a veterinarian for over 20 years before taking on the project, something she hadwanted to do since she was a child – “nothing else.” “When I run into people who I knew as a child, they’re like, ‘Oh, you always did want to be a vet,’” she said. “It is amazing how for some reason, every animal is just – no matter how skinny, matted, stinky, gross – they are just the cutest.”
Robert Eisbruck , who focuses on the business side, was a hedge fund manager on Wall Street before leaving to pursue the venture. Despite his extensive business background, he’d never built a small business before. “It’s been a lot of new experiences,” he said. “I’ve been able to apply what I’ve learned in my career and schooling to this. And it’s fun.” It was also challenging, he said, considering the couple built the business from ground zero.
The partners balance each other, each taking on a necessary role for the hospital. “I could not do this without him. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes,” MelissaEisbruck said about her husband. “Anywhere I’ve ever worked before, I just walked in and did my Eisbruck vet thing, and I didn’t know about every single item that I needed to order, down to the rotary heads on my dental equipment.” Still, Robert Eisbruck said his wife is involved in all business decisions.
The business was the first to connect to the Plandome Road sewer line, which was completed in early August. At the time, Robert Eisbruck said there are benefits that made them happy to seek out this option, including environmental sustainability.
“I have the opportunity to contribute to doing something good for the next part of my life,” he said. “I didn’t grow up with pets. Now it’s my life, so it’s pretty interesting how life works.”
Town Animal Hospital of Manhasset is located at 260 Plandome Road.
