Garrison named 2022 Ohio Veterinarian of the Year
Though retirement is in the offing, Dr. Brad Garrison, right, is still working full time and making his regular rounds and that includes veterinary care for the herd of dairy farmer Kevin Michalovich, left, of RNR Swiss Farm in Nashville. Garrison, set to retire after 40 years as a large animal veterinarian at the New Pittsburg Veterinary Clinic in Wooster, was recently named the 2022 Ohio Veterinarian of the Year by the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association.
As Dr. Brad Garrison eases toward retirement, his legacy of providing veterinary care to area farmers is rooted in relationships he formed along the way.
Those relationships are foremost in Garrison’s mind as he reflects on 40 years as a large animal veterinarian at the New Pittsburg Veterinary Clinic in Wooster and the honor he received from the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association.
Garrison was named the 2022 Ohio Veterinarian of the Year. The award, considered the association’s highest honor, was presented during a special ceremony at the annual Midwest Veterinary Conference March 1.
“It was unexpected,” Garrison said. “I’m a farm veterinarian in Wayne County who loves what he does and for the organization to recognize my role in the profession is a great honor.”
That role included a term as OVMA president in 2015 and committee work for the group. He also has volunteered at OVMA’s Veterinary Education Center at the Ohio State Fair, is a longtime member of the Killbuck Valley Veterinary Association, and has testified before the Ohio General Assembly on behalf of the veterinary profession, according to a press release from the association.
Garrison is best known for his contributions to livestock care standards in Ohio, the association said. A dairy practitioner, he was actively involved in the development of dairy cattle standards when the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board was established in 2009. In 2020, Gov. Mike DeWine appointed him to fill a vacancy on the board, a term which ended in January of this year.
Garrison said he viewed his role on the board as an important service to the industry. “It helps ensure that science and common sense help form the standards by which Ohio takes care of its farm animals.,” he said
Although Garrison sold his interest in the clinic to Dr. Craig Zimmerly in January 2022, he is still working at the clinic full time until his replacement is hired. “I still really enjoy what I do, and I’ll keep working until the right replacement is found and I can transition my clients to that person.”
A Wayne County native, Garrison joined the clinic in 1983 after graduating from The Ohio State University College Veterinary Medicine.
“The clinic was young (just three years old) and didn’t have any clients to give me, per se,” Garrison said, “so I had to build my own part of the practice,” He did that by offering unique services such as on-farm animal surgeries and other specialized treatments and procedures.
He traces his interest in veterinary medicine to his first 4-H animal project. The dairy cow developed a displaced abomasum (the fourth or “true” stomach of a cow), a condition that in those days meant she would need to be sent to market.
An area veterinarian came to the farm and performed surgery to correct the problem, Garrison said. “It was a brand-new procedure and very few veterinarians did it. It really intrigued me.”
Today, it is by far the most common surgery done on the farm, he said. “We do multiples of them weekly.”
Garrison said his 4-H dairy cow recovered well and went on to be productive. It was the first of many advances in veterinary care he would see over the years.
He’s also seen the industry change its focus from treatment to prevention. “We understand that doing the right things with animal care will result in healthier, more productive animals and help our clients become more profitable,” Garrison said.
For Garrison, animal care is only part of it.
“What has kept the practice enjoyable is really the relationship with the people and the clients,” he said. "Serving farm clients means you are on the farm multiple times a year, so you build relationships.”
Early in his career, Garrison took good-natured ribbing from a dairy farmer who knew the young veterinarian when he was in high school.
“He had a preconceived idea of who I was,” Garrison said, grinning at the memory. “Many times, he expressed how he never thought that I would amount to a hoot, but now he was writing a check to pay me every month.”
Another favorite memory is his summer truck washing contest.
At the time, several of his farm clients had multiple grade school-age children, so he offered an ice cream party to whichever family washed his truck the most times.
“We had so much fun with that,” Garrison said. “There were days I got my truck washed multiple times a day. If (the children) knew I was coming, they’d be waiting with a hose and bucket ready to have at it.”
Bonus points were awarded if they cleaned the inside of his truck.
Those children are adults now, Garrison said, and he can’t get their offspring to buy into the contest.
Garrison and his wife, Jane, have two grown children, Shannon and Spencer. When the children were young, their father often took them on veterinary calls.
“The farmers would dote on them,” he said. “Those are good memories.”
He wants his career in veterinary medicine remembered this way. “I had an important role to help the farm families I serve accomplish their goals and become profitable so they can support their families.”