Our team consists of four veterinarians, three receptionists, and a large backup crew of assistants and LVT's. Our team is commited to educating our clients on how to keep your pet healthy year round. Lake Forest Animal Hospital stays on top of the latest advances in veterinary technology and above all remembers that all pets need to be treated with loving care at every check up, procedure, and or surgery.

Dr. Angela has been with the practice from the beginning. She started working one day a week to give Dr. Amy some time off. As the practice began to grow, we were blessed to have Dr Angela work more hours. Dr. Angela graduated from Va Tech, and has three great kids, one cat, and two very happy dogs.

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Van Scoik to our practice. She just recently moved to our area from PA. where she worked in a mixed practice. We are so pleased that she has joined our team, and can't wait for her to meet all of our great clients.

Dr. Hoss, a Virginia native, joined our team in January 2021. She brings skills in preventative medicine and surgery, internal medicine and shelter medicine. Dr. Hoss loves building relationships with clients and their pets and truly becoming part of the local community. She has three rescue pets of her own - dogs named Hop and Penny and Mookie the cat. 

Dr. AJ Abbassi grew up in Lynchburg, VA. She started petsitting at a young age in addition to taking care of her own dogs, cats, chickens, pocket pets and more. She attended Randolph College where she received her bachelor's degree in Biology in 2015. During college, she worked as a veterinary assistant and kennel worker. In 2019, she graduated from Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.

In her free time, Dr. Abbassi enjoys hiking, backpacking, biking, and reading. She has one cat right now, an older girl named Onyx, but plans on adopting more cats, dogs, and chickens. She is excited to be working at Lake Forest and to serve the community.                                   

Cathy has been with us since '99. She attended Blue Ridge Comm College and obtained her technicians license in '03. Cathy has a 3 dogs, two of which are her favorite breed, the Papillion. She has learned recently that she really enjoys doing agility with her dogs and is working to further train herself and her dogs in this new venture.

Mandy has been at the clinic since opening day. That's somewhere around April of '98. She graduated with an associates in Animal Science at NVCC. She does all the paperwork Leo can't handle, and tries to keep things running smoothly. She has two daughters, 4 dogs, 2 cats, a chinchilla, and a ferret. Mandy loves to raise babies, especially wildlife. 

Sharon has been an assistant since 2006 and really wishes she had retired from her previous career much earlier than she did.  She and her husband, David, are owned by 4 dogs (a Doberman, 1 shelties, a dachshund and a mixed breed) and 3 loving kitties.  Sharon is a volunteer with Northern Va Sheltie Rescue and frequently has a foster dog, or two.  You may have seen her bringing foster shelties to the clinic, some in not so good shape, so don't worry!  They are on the road to recovery!

Suzanne is one of our 2 great receptionist. She has completely joined the family by adopting multiple furry children from us. We are happy to have her finish out our receptionist team.

Amanda is a wonderful part of our reception team. She started in April 2015 and has fit in so well that it feels as if she has always been a part of our family. We truly feel blessed to have her.

Morgan started with us in 2018. She started out as an assistant but quickly started to do a lot more. Most days you'll find her running lab work and doing technician appointments. She also adopted that adorable dog(Elliot) in the picture from us. 

Lizzie always has great attitude and is willing to try new stuff.  She is very caring and her empathy towards people and their pets is something we truly appreciate.

Sarah graduated from Fort Sam Houston's School of Veterinary Technology in 2009 and worked as a veterinary technician in the Army for four years. She is living her dream on her very own farm and animal rescue in Bedford, Virginia. She has a plethora or critters. Pigs, goats, etc. It's always fun to visit her place and see the things she's rescued.           

She graduated from Virginia Tech with her Bachelors in Animal Science in 2018, and has been working as an assistant ever since. She just recently started the vet tech program with blue ridge community college and is expected to graduate in 2023. She has 2 Labrador retrievers named Annie and Bella that she adores, along with a small herd of angus cattle that she hopes to expand in the future!  

Tess is a military spouse that landed in Lynchburg March of 2019.  She has a Bachelors in Music Education, but is switching her love of working with students to working with animals! She hopes to start school within the veterinary technician field soon. She and her husband have 4 fur children; 2 cats named Gus and Boo Kitty, and 2 dogs named Lily and Sam. Tess is excited to be part of the Lake Forest team! 

Wynn graduated with a B.S. in Psychology in 2017 intending to follow a research based career. Shortly after graduation, he found himself working for a local animal shelter where his love of veterinary medicine began. Now, he is anticipated to graduate with an Associates in Veterinary Technology in Spring of 2022. In his free time, Wynn enjoys collecting medical oddities and spending time with his wife, four cats, and three dogs.

Paige has been volunteering and working with animals for over 6 years. She is in the LVT program at Penn Foster and should graduate in 2023. She has one cat, one dog, and 3 ferrets of her own.     

Leo came in via animal control. At the time he was looking pretty rough, but as you can see, that is no longer the case. He keeps us on our toes and makes sure everything gets done like it's supposed to.

Give some background on this staff member, such as how long they've been in this field and what they love about their job. Also provide some personal info about hobbies, pets, family, and more.