New AAHA Board of Directors Takes Helm During Connexity Conference

With the successful close of the inaugural Connexity conference, the American Animal Hospital Association welcomed three new officers and one new director to the AAHA Board of Directors. The new officers and new director on the 2018-2019 AAHA Board of Directors include:

Darren Taul, DVM, is AAHA’s 2018–2019 president. After graduating from Auburn in 1996, Taul moved back to Kentucky to practice. He opened Animal Hospital of Lancaster in 1999 (accredited in 2012) and purchased a second hospital, Animal Hospital of Danville, in 2017. Taul is a current member of AAHA-Accredited Veterinary Management Groups (VMG). He is a facilitator for the AAHA Adventure Series Pack Trips, speaker for the Veterinary Management Institute (VMI), and a consultant for Blue Heron Veterinary Consulting. In his local community, he is the immediate past chair of the Heritage Hospice Board of Directors, a member of the Farmers National Bank Community Board, and serves KHELPS Medical Reserve Corp as an emergency respondent.

Guylaine Charette, DMV, is AAHA’s new president-elect. After receiving her DMV from the Universitè de Montrèal in 1984, Charette joined 2016 AAHA-Accredited Practice of the Year, Pembroke Animal Hospital in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada, where she still practices as an owner. In addition to serving as a mentor for the AAHA-Accredited Veterinary Management Groups (VMG), she volunteers with the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA)—including providing professional services, participating in fundraising activities, and assisting with suspected abuse cases—and The Lucky Project, where she assists in the medical care of feral cats in her community. Charette currently serves as the board liaison for the AAHA Practice Accreditation Committee (PAC).

Pamela Nichols, DVM, CCRP, is now the vice president on the AAHA board. She received her DVM from the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University in 1996 and her bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Utah in 1987. Her background is varied and includes work as a financial consultant, veterinary technician, veterinary receptionist, and associate veterinarian. Nichols opened Animal Care Center in West Bountiful, Utah, in 1999 and the Animal Care Center Airport in 2014. They are both AAHA-accredited facilities. The K-9 Rehabilitation Center, which opened in 2002, was one of the first in the country of its kind. Nichols is the recipient of multiple awards, including Utah’s Best of the State Award in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018; Utah’s Small Business Woman of the Year in 2004; and one of “30 Women to Watch” in Utah in 2017. She owns and operates three dog day care and boarding facilities in two states—Utah Dog Park Woods Cross, Utah Dog Park Airport (which won Best of State awards in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018), and Idaho Dog Park. Nichols currently serves as the board liaison for the AAHA Membership Audit and Control Committee (MACC) and the Veterinary Informatics Committee (VIC).

Margot Vahrenwald, DVM, joins the AAHA board as a director. Vahrenwald started her career in communications, earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations from the University of Georgia in 1987 and a master’s degree in public communications from American University in 1990 before returning to school to study veterinary medicine. She earned her DVM at Colorado State University in 2000 and completed a small animal internship and worked for four years as a staff veterinarian at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C. before returning to Colorado in 2004, where she opened Park Hill Veterinary Medical Center in 2011. Vahrenwald’s professional interests include preventive care, dentistry, marketing, and client education.

Several 2017 AAHA directors will be returning in 2018 as well.

2018-2019 AAHA Board of Directors

Darren Taul, DVM

President

Guylaine Charette, DMV

President-Elect

Pamela Nichols, DVM

Vice President

Dermot Jevens, MVB, DACVS

Secretary/Treasurer

Mark McConnell, BVMS, MRCVS

Immediate Past President

Adam Hechko, DVM

Director

Caroline Lubeck, DVM

Director

Margot Vahrenwald, DVM

Director

Connexity 2019 will be held in Indianapolis September 12-15, 2019. Registration is now open for all accredited and preaccredited AAHA practice team members.

For conference details and information about AAHA, visit aaha.org.