Local Vets Open Pet Hospital On Skokie Boulevard

A new veterinary hospital is slated to open this spring at 300 Skokie Boulevard in Northbrook.

The North Shore Family Pet Hospital will offer medical and surgical veterinary services, dentistry and wellness checkups and is scheduled to open in late May, according to co-owner and local veterinarian Ben Shechter. 

Shechter teamed up to open the hospital with fellow vet Karen Bannow. Both worked at Cairo Animal Hospital in Highland Park for years; Bannow for 13 and Shechter for 24. They left the practice last year.

Earlier:

Bannow currently offers services through Green Tree Animal Hospital in Libertyville, while Shechter has done personal house calls for the past 18 years. 

“We both have a large clientele that’s been very faithful and has followed us from the hospital,” Shechter said. 

The veterinarians have already hired a staff for their practice, which will open with 9 employees, including Shechter and Bannow. They plan to see mostly dogs and cats, and will refer emergencies that come in after 6 p.m. to nearby hospitals.

“We have a mutual philosophy of gentleness and kindness, both to the people we deal with and the pets we deal with,” Shechter said.

Both Shechter and Bannow have their own pets as well, he added. Bannow has two dogs and three cats, while Shechter has three dogs.

“All of our staff has pets, they love pets,” he said. “I think that’s a lot of the motivation.”

While Shechter and Bannow considered locations around the north suburbs, Northbrook was an easy choice, Shechter said.

“The village was just friendly business-wise, in terms of zoning and getting a place,” he said. “The permitting process has been great.”

Renovation is progressing at the animal hospital’s new location in the Berkely Row shopping center. The site, which has sat vacant for roughly two years, was the former location for a sushi restaurant. All that remains is to obtain permits for a sign from the village—and then the vets can hang out their shingle, so to speak.

“We want to be affordable and caring,” Shechter said. “It’s really going to be a part of the community.”

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article misspelled veterinarian Ben Shechter's last name. We sincerely regret the error.