Veterinary Team
Meet Our Veterinary Team
Meet the Veterinarians & Team of Byron Center Animal Hospital! We’re pleased to provide exceptional vet care for your pets!
Get to know our veterinary team!
Veterinarians
Dr. Stephanie Sainsbury
Veterinarian and Founder
Dr. Sainsbury has always known a passion and love for animals. When she was only 3 years old her mother was alarmed to find her petting her uncle’s bull while he munched on hay; seemingly enjoying the curious toddler talking to him! As a young child, she convinced her dad while trick-or-treating to take a “free puppy” from a house. This is the dog she knew as a constant companion until, sadly, he was put to rest at the ripe old age of 16!
She chose to open the Byron Center Animal Hospital in 2006 with the goal of providing all animals with the highest quality, most compassionate care possible. She is extremely dedicated to her patients and human caregivers and feels very strongly that like us, our pets deserve optimum health and happiness. She thrives on the bond she creates with both her patients and clients!
Prior to opening the Byron Center Animal Hospital, Dr. Stephanie worked doing emergency and critical care at a 24-hour care facility. She completed her undergraduate degree from Lake Superior State University and her veterinary degree from the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ontario. Her hometown is in Canada, but she now lives here with her husband, Jeff, who has always called Grand Rapids home. They have one son, Zach, whom they welcomed into their family in 2013. To keep him company, they have Cliff, a rescued mastiff mix, and a cat named Jack. Dr. Sainsbury loves to watch Zach giggle and play with his four-legged siblings! Dr. Sainsbury enjoys mountain bike racing, hiking, and reading in her spare time. She has always had a love of the outdoors and nature. Whenever she is able, she will gather up Zach, Cliff, and Jeff and head outside!
Dr. Phoebe Miedema
Veterinarian
Dr. Phoebe Miedema joined BCAH in August 2018. Dr. Phoebe grew up in Portage, Michigan and has always had a deep-rooted love of animals and a passion for the human-animal bond. She grew up showing horses in 4-H, a hobby that carried over to the MSU Equestrian team during her undergraduate years.
Dr. Phoebe and her husband, Alex, enjoy spending time outside together. On the weekend, they can usually be found on the lake, hiking or in Spartan Stadium for MSU football games. They have one dog, Bailey, a foxhound mix who knows every trick in the book! Dr. Miedema also has a Quarter Horse gelding named Zip and enjoys trail riding in Northern Michigan.
Dr. Phoebe attended Michigan State University for both undergraduate and veterinary school. She found her true passion in small animal medicine during her final year of clinical rotations with a special interest in behavior, and internal medicine. Before joining the team at BCAH, she practiced at a small animal hospital in North Muskegon. Dr. Phoebe is committed to helping your pet live a long, healthy, happy life and is excited to meet you and your four-legged companion!
Dr. Catie Gammon
Dr. Gammon is from Petoskey, Michigan and after completing a Biology degree at and running for Hope College (GO DUTCH!), she obtained her veterinary degree from Michigan State University (GO GREEN!). She returned to West Michigan and practiced for a couple years before joining the BCAH team in 2020.
Dr. Gammon’s veterinary interests include preventative medicine, surgery, and ultrasound. She is a member of the Michigan and American Veterinary Medical Associations. She enjoys partnering with Christian Veterinary Mission to provide care for animals and people around the world and loves any opportunity to practice her Spanish.
In her free time, Dr. Gammon is very active: you can find her running, biking, swimming, and cross- country skiing. She loves to swing dance and is learning to play the ukulele (although not very well). She is a part of the Grand Rapids Catholic Community. Dr. Gammon grew up with Golden Retrievers and is now fostering/training a PAWS With A Cause black lab named Ambrose.
Dr. Gen Kluver
Dr. Gen Kluver is a recent transplant from Omaha, Nebraska. Originally from Canada, she moved to the United States when she was 12 years old. Her love of animals and teaching guided her to earn a degree in animal health science. After attending Cal Poly Pomona for her undergraduate degree, she became a registered veterinary technician. She loved the field so much that she then went on to veterinary school at Western University of Health Sciences in SoCal. She graduated in 2014 and began practicing in Apple Valley, California. In early 2018, her husband was offered a position with Subaru in Nebraska. The family, including two young children and two cats, moved to Omaha where they stayed for 5 years. Most recently, they decided to relocate to Grand Rapids, MI to be closer to family. During her time off, Dr. Gen can be found hanging out with her family, horseback riding and enjoying the outdoors.
Dr. Clara Jurik
Veterinarian
Dr. Clara hails from Mesick, Michigan and attended Hope College for her undergraduate degree in Biology before attending the University of Illinois for veterinary school. During her clinical year, she discovered special interests in internal medicine, feline medicine, and preventative care. Dr. Clara joined the BCAH team in June 2022, and strives to provide exceptional client education while promoting the best quality of life for all furry family members.
In her free time, Dr. Clara loves spending time with her family in northern Michigan, reading, baking, hanging out with her adopted cat Ollie, and is a regular at weeknight trivia. She looks forward to continuing to build meaningful relationships with her clients and patients alike
Leadership Team
Candice
Bio coming soon!
Licensed Veterinary Technicians
Natalie, LVT
Bio coming soon!
Bethany, LVT
Bethany joined BCAH from Allegan. She has been a member of our team since August 2019. She has also lived in Middleville and Owosso.
Bethany’s favorite part of her job is cytology and looking through the microscope, helping to guide patients’ diagnostics by assessing their cytology sample. She also likes to help clients navigate hard times, difficult situations, and illness. Bethany is very caring and compassionate. She also likes helping nervous and reactive patients feel more at ease during their visit, serving our clients and patients to help maintain the human-animal bond.
When not at work, Bethany will be spending quality time with her husband and six children. They love to do things together, such as downtown walks to the park, kayaking, painting and cooking. The furry members of the bunch are Benny, an American Bully, and Lady, a tortoiseshell cat. There’s also many fish and hermit crabs in the family as well! How fun!
Andrea, LVT
Andrea moved to Holland and joined BCAH in the Fall of 2020 after Graduating from Baker College of Cadillac with an Associate’s degree in Veterinary Technology, and completing internships in Grand Rapids and Rockford.
She grew up in the Upper Peninsula surrounded by wildlife, farms, and lots of family pets. She has always had an interest in animals, science, and the medical field. This combination of interests eventually led her to the veterinary technician career.
Although she loves the Upper Peninsula, Andrea feels most at home below the bridge since moving down for college in 2018. When she’s not at work, Andrea enjoys photography, reading, playing video games, and relaxing at home with her cat, Ash. During the warmer months she enjoys spending time outside hiking and camping with her friends.
Kati, LVT
Bio coming soon!
Brooklin, LVT
Brooklin jumped on the BCAH bandwagon in July 2023. She is from Cheboygan but moved to Grand Rapids in 2022.
Brooklin really loves anything to do with reptile and exotics medicine, surgical techniques, blood collection and diagnostics, and client education.
When not working, Brooklin is very passionate about self-expression. She will be found gardening, playing video games like Stardew Valley, Apex Legends, Minecraft, and Ark Survival. She also enjoys family time, skiing, exploring nature, taking care of her many houseplants, spending time with her boyfriend, Dylan, and their small zoo of 10 pets; Equinox (Kitty Man), Fluffy Pumpkin (Chompy, Squee, Chonky), Gracie, and Nessie are their cats. Toothless is a Mexican Black Kingsnake, Garbonzo Bean (Beanie, Weenie, Bean) is a Spider Ball Python, Hammer Oinklferd (Hammer) is an Albino Anaconda Hognose snake, Azymondias (Zym) is a Bearded Dragon, and last, but certainly not least are the rats, Scarlet and Violet. What a variety of fun and amazing family members!
Kyle, LVT
Kyle BCAH Bio Kyle grew up in Michigan and has loved being around animals from a young age. He participated in 4-H showing both horses and pigs. Kyle always wanted a career working with animals, and received his Associate’s Degree in Veterinary Technology from Purdue University in 2017. He and his wife moved to Michigan after their time at Purdue, and recently have settled down in the Grand Rapids area to be closer to family. Outside of work, Kyle enjoys traveling, exploring Michigan, hiking, finding new coffee shops, and spending time with his family and two dogs Fynn and Stella.
Veterinary Assistants
Jen
I grew up watching my aunt work at the zoo. She then went on to become a veterinarian. Her passion became my passion, and I knew that I, too, wanted to work with animals! I started out volunteering at the local animal emergency hospital in high school and then worked my way up to head veterinary technician at a day practice. I have been working in the veterinary field for over 20 years now. Oh my, how time flies when you’re doing something you love! I joined Byron Center Animal Hospital in October 2016. When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with my family (including my adorable nieces!) and friends up north at our family cottage, fishing, going on pontoon rides, and must relaxing around the campfire.
Sara
Sara comes to BCAH from Grand Rapids. She joined us in March of 2023.
Sara’s favorite parts of her career are surgery, client education, and gaining the trust of scared patients. Sara is so patient and understanding with them and goes above and beyond to make their visit less stressful.
Sara enjoys spending time with her four children hiking, camping, and making maple syrup in the Spring. When she does get the rare time for herself, she likes to read, cook, garden, go to concerts, and get tattoos.
On top of such a large family, Sara has quite a few pets as well. Winifred Bernice Picklebottom is her Pit/Chihuahua mix, Pukwudgie Necrotizing Jones, Jack Attack the Pirate Cat, and Sir Technoblade, the Tilted of Pixar are her three cats, and she also has a Russian Tortoise named Sasha. What a fun bunch!
Heather
Veterinary Assistant
Bio coming soon!
Avery
Bio coming soon!
Justine
Veterinary Assistant
Justine is from Grand Rapids and joined BCAH in October 2024.
Justine enjoys being part of complicated cases and seeing sick patients improve. She also really loves puppy and kitten visits so she can snuggle them while they are getting their examinations.
When not at work, Justine can be found lost in a book while snuggling her 3 cats Ruby, Nano, and Obie. She also loves to cook for friends and family.
Client Service Representatives
Emily
Social Media/Marketing Guru
Bio coming soon!
Dawn
Safety Coordinator
Dawn comes to BCAH with over 20 years of experience in the veterinary field. She has enjoyed all the pets and people that have crossed her path and is looking forward to meeting the patients and clients here. Pet health and people’s education are part of her passion.
Dawn grew up in the Grand Rapids area and is from a big family. Her family always had pets and she was always interested in farms and zoos. She had her own “rescue” of birds and rabbits at a young age.
She currently lives in Byron Center with her boyfriend and four fun cats. Floyd is the old man at 13 and is super sweet and smart. Frankie is a three-legged rescue that is so cute and loving. Peaches and Cream are the girls that Dawn rescued from the road at about four weeks and are now in good health and thriving.
Dawn also has some pretty cool two-legged kids! Her son, Nate, resides in Alpena with his wife, Amber. Kylie, her daughter, resides in Lansing. They try to come home as much as they can. In her free time, Dawn loves to travel, camp, and boat with family and friends.
Bobbie
Bobbie moved to Caledonia in January of 2023 from Grand Rapids and joined the BCAH team in February. She’s originally from Grand Rapids but has lived in various places around Michigan and also in Mississippi from 1992-1995.
Her favorite part of being in the veterinary field is learning new things through continuing education courses, co-workers’ teachings, client education, and helping in the treatment area whenever she gets a chance to. She’s very passionate about end-of-life care and helping our clients and their pets through that end-of-life transition.
She’s always had a passion for saving and helping any animal in need, starting when she was barely old enough to walk. Bobbie was always bringing something home whether it was an injured field mouse, a stray kitten, baby bunny, or even a praying mantis that had lost one of its legs. Bobbie has a true passion for older and special needs pets, adopting them, and trying to give them extra love and care.
Outside of work, Bobbie enjoys reading pretty much anything from fiction to random medical articles, crafting and DIY projects, peace and quiet time to recharge, gardening, hiking, going to concerts, and tarot/crystal conventions. She spends a lot of time with her Bassett/Beagle mix, Trixie (Queen Trixie Louise of the side eye) and three cats, Loki, Gouda, and Mouse. In the warmer months, you can find her outside more often than not, whether at an outdoor concert or improving her gardening skills or hiking through the woods, or even just sitting outside reading. During the winter and colder months, she will be inside reading or watching a plethora of different types of documentaries.
Kendra
Kendra joined the team in September 2023! She came with 5 years of experience in pet retail, a degree in general psychology from Aquinas College, and a love for compassionate client service. She is from Ada, MI and has always had a love for pets of all kinds.
As a teenager, she would often petsit the fur kiddos in her neighborhood and was well-known as a dog walker. During her college years, she worked part time at a local pet store, spending time caring for pocket pets of all sizes! Some of her favorites include guinea pigs, crested geckos, Chinese water dragons, blue tongued skinks, and Veiled chameleons!
Her family has always been big pet lovers. Kendra grew up with a Labrador/German Shepherd mix named Allie, who lived to the elderly age of 16 ½! Her current family pets include Jake, a 12-year-old Shetland Sheepdog/German Shepherd mix, and Tyler, a 9-year-old brown tabby cat.
When she’s not helping care for the lovely clients and pets of BCAH, Kendra enjoys spending time with family, hosting game nights, bonfires, and camping.
Kendra and her boyfriend Devin currently live in Clarksville, MI with their 3-year-old sassy and spoiled tabby and white cat, Pebbles.