Paradise Point Animal Hospital was the shared dream project for me, Dr. Desiree Garthe, and my husband, Jim Garthe CR, CKBR. With both of us having over 30 years in our professional careers, we always dreamt about collaborating on building an animal hospital. It would be a place I could practice what I love in an environment that was created especially for me by the man that I love.

In 1983, after graduating high school, I started out in the pet care industry working as a receptionist in a very fast-paced animal hospital in Chicago. I became a veterinary assistant while obtaining my undergraduate degree and eventually went on to pursue a doctorate degree in veterinary medicine. In 2001, I graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, moved to Phoenix, AZ, and began my career practicing veterinary medicine.

Several years ago, I came to a crossroads in my personal and professional career when the practice that I had worked at for fifteen years got sold to a major corporation. I knew that, for me, working under the corporate ethos was not the path that I wanted to follow. I elected to start up a mobile veterinary service, Veterinarians On-The-Go, to help service my clients and their pets during the design and construction of our brick-and-mortar pet hospital facility.

My husband, Jim Garthe, grew up working in construction in the Gold Coast area of downtown Chicago. He is a licensed Commercial and Residential Design/Build Remodeling General Contractor. His wealth of knowledge within his industry was paramount in helping to create a completely renovated, state-of-the-art, modern, brand new animal hospital from the ground up. Together, we designed and built Paradise Point Animal Hospital.