Dr. Brenda Buck, owner of Animal Hospital of Rochester, has been a veterinarian for almost 19 years.

“I’ve always been drawn to pets, they’ve been kind of my safety net throughout life,” said Dr. Buck. "I’ve always had an interest in medicine, in science and so that just meshed both worlds for me."

But as communities across the country face a lack of 24-hour critical care for animals, it's made her job more difficult.

"It's a shortage of veterinarians nationwide and emergency care is actually one of the actual niches in veterinary care that's been hit really hard because the burnout rate is so high, the hours that are worked are so long," Dr. Buck said.

Rochester's only 24/7 critical care facility closed its doors at the end of November due to a lack of veterinarians. The next closest facility is as far as Buffalo.

"I had a personal experience with friends who have had pets pass away on their way to Buffalo,” said Dr. Buck.

A situation that's not unique to this area, as 24-hour vet services are limited across the state.

"The vet community when we knew that this emergency service was closing, we really all started talking like what are we gonna do, how are we gonna meet the needs of our community," Dr. Buck said.

Now Dr. Buck is working alongside Dr. Bruce Ingersol and Dr. Dori Marion, doing what they can to start a not-for-profit 24-hour animal hospital.

"Seeing our own clients suffering because their pets have had to travel so far and the hardship that that's created for them, I think we all were just like, there’s such a need here," she said.

The goal is for the new facility to initially be open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. to see emergencies and Dr. Buck will continue her general practice during the day. The doctors hope to be open by January or February at the latest.

"We’re working really hard around the clock to try to get this up and running," said Dr. Buck.

And continuing to love the work she’s doing while combating burnout in the process.

"That's where it comes down to that self-care and being able to really set the boundaries where when I’m not at work I’m not Dr. Buck," she said.