Dr. John Michael is a managing partner at Animal Care Center Plainfield and CARE Animal Emergency Services. He has been with Animal Care Center since 2007.

He received his BS in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 2003 and his DVM in 2007 from University of Illinois as well. His primary interests as a veterinarian are small animal medicine and surgery, with a special interest in internal medicine and orthopedic surgery.

Dr. Gary Rybka studied at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and received a bachelor of science degree from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He graduated from the Auburn School of Veterinary Medicine in 1977 as a member of Phi Zeta, the National Veterinary Honor Society.

Dr. Rybka began his practice career in North Georgia where he provided complete and emergency care for companion and farm animals for 18 years. Since 1996 Dr. Rybka has developed two small animal practices in Columbus, Ohio.

With a particular interest in pediatric medicine and surgery Dr. Rybka has been instrumental in developing effective preventive and therapeutic programs for multiple animal rescue groups and other pet organizations. Providing veterinary medical care and mentoring other veterinarians and staff for over 45 years has given Dr. Rybka a wealth of experience and creates a solid, practical approach to pet health concerns and solving problems.

Dr. Jacobsen is currently managing partner of Oswego Animal Hospital, after first joining the Kremer Veterinary Services team in 1998 as a kennel worker. His primary areas of interest include small animal surgery, orthopedic surgery and soft tissue surgery. Dr. Jacobsen received his doctorate in veterinary medicine from Ross University in 2004 after completing his undergraduate work in animal science at the University of Illinois in 2000. He is a member of the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association (ISVMA), the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Additionally, he has taken both basic and advanced courses in orthopedics.

Dr. John Coyne has been practicing veterinary medicine for over 40 years. He was raised on a farm in Central Illinois, which cultivated his love for animals and inspired him to pursue veterinary medicine. In 1974, he graduated from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

Since then, Dr. Coyne has blazed the proverbial trail, providing the quality of care he believed should be the norm and mentoring many skilled young veterinarians along the way. His dedication to hard work and persistence have led to him now owning and operating multiple animal hospitals throughout Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana.

Dr. Coyne places special emphasis on wellness care and providing pets with the best quality of life through proactive treatment.

Dr. Buedel has been Chief of Staff and partner at Animal Care Center of Plainfield since 2002. Additionally, he is a partner of four other Kremer Veterinary Services clinics. Dr. Buedel particularly enjoys orthopedic surgery, and remains committed to advancing and honing his surgical skills through continuing education courses in orthopedics, including an advanced master’s course.

He completed his undergraduate studies in biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1996. Mike graduated from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Piechocinski has been with Kremer Veterinary Services since 1997. He first joined our team as a kennel worker before going on to follow his passion of becoming a veterinarian. Today, his primary areas of interest include shelter medicine and surgery. Dr. Piechocinski received his doctorate from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2009 and did his clinical year at Louisiana State University. He completed his undergraduate studies at Lewis University in 2003. Currently, Dr. Piechocinski has USDA accreditation through the National Veterinary Accreditation Program. He is also a member of the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association (ISVMA), the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

Originally from Upstate New York, Dr. Silverman received his BA with High Honors (for Lyme Disease research) from Middlebury College in Vermont, his Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, and his MBA (Entrepreneurship) from DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in Chicago. His professional focus includes kidney and liver disease, abdominal surgery, surgical oncology, wound care, dentistry, infectious disease and shelter medicine, pharmacology and pain management, parasitology, pediatrics, geriatrics and end-of-life hospice care. Dr. Silverman is the founder of Co-founder of CARF: The Critical Animal Relief Foundation, a non-profit 501c3 animal rescue and advocacy organization committed to saving the lives of at-risk cats and dogs in Chicago and beyond. He serves on the review board for Magic Bullet Fund for canine cancer fund.

Dr. Spodak became a managing partner of Animal Care Center in 2010, after joining the team in 2008 with a concentration in surgery and medicine. Before pursuing a career in veterinary medicine, Dr. Spodak worked on four different continents as a field biologist. Today, he is passionate about zoology, with a strong interest in exotics –particularly birds and reptiles. A New Jersey native, Dr. Spodak received his undergraduate and veterinary degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Knoxville, Tennessee’s Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, respectively.

Dr. Kirwin received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Ross University in 2000. He became the owner of the Day Heights Veterinary Clinic in 2005. In 2010 he graduated from The Chi Institute of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and is a Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist. He has a special interest in surgery, as well as acupuncture and herbal therapies. He is a member of AVMA, OVMA, and AATCVM.

Dr. Ballard is from Arizona where, in the 1900’s, she graduated from the University of Arizona with a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Keeping with the wildcat theme she moved to Kansas, where she received her veterinary degree from Kansas State University in 2004. Her focus has been on small animal medicine and surgery with a love for emergency medicine.
Dr. Ballard now lives in chilly Minnesota with her husband, 4 human children and many furry children. When she has the chance she loves cross country skiing, hiking, camping, and all things sci-fi.

Jack currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Intercept TeleMed, www.intercepttelemed.com, a provider of Tele-ICU and remote critical care service to health systems and hospitals nationally. Specialize in executing high-growth sales and marketing plans, establishing equity and debt funding and identifying and managing merger targets and acquisitions for technology-enabled healthcare and related companies.

Preceding Intercept TeleMed, Karabees served as President of Consult A Doctor, a telehealth technology and services company from company start-up through their successful acquisition by publicly-traded Teladoc (TDOC). Mr. Karabees was also Executive Vice President of Corporate Finance, Sales & Marketing for Entic, www.entic.com, a cloud-based predictive analytics and optimization platform for hospitals, large healthcare facilities and others, from start-up through their Series A financing by Blackstone Group, LP (BX), www.blackstone.com.

Suzanne began her career with Kremer Veterinary Services in client care and management in 1997. In 2014, she assumed the role as the Director of Administration overseeing all 12 Kremer hospitals. Suzanne has a degree in advertising and marketing, but her true passion lies in project management, specifically new site building and growth, designing state of the art hospitals and adopting technology platforms that enable our teams to provide the best care possible for all pets in our communities.