Dr. Christina Seidel opened Ark Veterinary Hospital & Urgent Care in March of 2018. Her long history of working with animals ever since she was young inspired her to follow her dreams to work in this field, wanting to bring joy and love to others the way animals have done for her.
"Animals have given me so much joy and companionship throughout my life that it's so great to be able to care for them and give something back," Dr. Seidel says. "Being a veterinarian is more than just people bringing in their animals for care. They become part of your family and you're able to be there for them from puppy/kittenhood until the end. That bond is priceless."
Dr. Seidel grew up on a farm in rural Iowa. She was involved in every facet of raising animals, from bottle feeding, administering medications, wound management, birthing assistance—she can name it all. In between her work on the farm, she tended to injured wildlife whenever she could. She’s cared for abandoned baby birds, repaired damaged turtle shells, and even befriended a wild turkey. Dr. Seidel was heavily involved in 4-H and took part in her local and State Fair, showing a variety of animals.
Dr. Seidel graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor's in Zoology and Genetics before continuing her education to become a licensed veterinarian. She's a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the New York State Veterinary Medical Society, the Genesse Valley Veterinary Medical Association, the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society, and the American Association of Food Safety & Public Health Veterinarians. She's also a member of the Monroe County Animal Steering Committee and is involved in emergency preparedness for the animals in Monroe County.
At home, Dr. Seidel spends time with her loving husband Michael Seidel, who is a teacher in the Rush-Henrietta School District and a KW Real Estate Broker. Together, they have 5 children in the Rochester area. They also have several pets: Cola, a black lab; Sinker, Sherbert, Smores, and Tabby, all cats; and Hunter, their ferret. In her free time, Dr. Seidel loves camping, swimming, cycling, and family activities.
Dr. Sandy Marky is an Associate Veterinarian at Ark Veterinary Hospital. She received her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Cornell NYS College of Veterinary Medicine in 1990 and her areas of professional interest include internal medicine, behavior, and ultrasonography. She began working in the veterinary field in 1984, and was inspired to pursue veterinary medicine by her strong interest in science, love of animals, and interest in medicine after growing up around her mom who was a nurse. She says the best part of working in the veterinary field is that she is always learning something new and gets to work with both animals and people.
Growing up in Kenmore, NY, Dr. Marky currently lives in Medina with her horse, donkey, and cats. When she is not practicing veterinary medicine, Dr. Marky enjoys kayaking, cooking, traveling and taking care of the critters on her farm.
Dr. Laurissa Coombs is a Veterinarian & Medical Director at Ark Veterinary Hospital. She graduated from SUNY Potsdam, with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and minor in Chemistry in 2014, and went on to earn her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2021. Dr. Coombs completed her clinical training at the University of Tennessee, and is Fear Free Certified, while also looking to become board certified in exotic small animals. Her professional interests include surgery, and exotic medicine and surgery. She says the best part of working in the veterinary field is being a part of the human-animal bond and is very excited to begin her veterinary career with Ark. Growing up, she was inspired by animal lovers such as Steve Irwin and her local veterinarian to be an advocate for animals.
Dr. Coombs grew up in Long Island, NY in Port Jefferson and is currently living in West Henrietta with her cat, dog, and tarantula. In her free time she enjoys reading, watching movies, hiking, kite surfing, scuba diving, and swimming. A fun fact about Dr. Coombs is that she has been to all seven continents! Dr. Coombs has also volunteered for several facilities over the years including working in South Africa with vervet monkeys, big cats, hyenas, wild dogs, and several avian and antelope species. She has also participated in the Aquatic Mammal Training Internship at Riverhead Aquarium and Exhibition Center in Long Island.
Dr. Chris Boshart-Adamson is known to many simply as “Dr. Chris”. She grew up in Trumansburg, NY and attended Ithaca College for her undergraduate degree where she majored in Biology. She graduated from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1996. She loves what she does, as each day is uniquely different, and she finds joy in interacting with her 4 legged patients. She particularly enjoys surgery as animals can injure themselves in the most unique ways, and she absolutely loves dental surgery where she feels that she can make such a huge difference in her patient’s quality of life. She joined ARK in the summer of 2020 and has enjoyed spending time with such hardworking technicians and receptionists. When not playing vet, she enjoys spending time with family, which includes one husband, a daughter, 3 dogs, and so many cats that she’s stopped counting (6 she thinks). She enjoys hiking, downhill skiing, traveling, and will try almost anything once!
Dr. Alexandra Dolzhenko is the newest Veterinarian at Ark Veterinary Hospital. Dr. Dolzhenko received her Bachelor of Science in Zoology from the State University of New York at Oswego in 2018, and went on to earn her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2022. Her areas of professional interest include emergency medicine and surgery.
Dr. Dolzhenko began her veterinary career in 2015 when she started working as a veterinary assistant. She has always loved animals, and knew she wanted to be their biggest advocate while working. Dr. Dolzhenko found the best part about working in veterinary medicine was being surrounded by animals every second of the day, and always being able to provide them the best life possible.
When she was just 16 years old, Dr. Dolzhenko made the move from the South Western region of Siberia in Russia, to Sullivan County, New York. Most recently, she has moved to Webster with her fiancé Jon and their black cat named Salem to be closer to Ark Veterinary. Outside of work, Dr. Dolzhenko enjoys cross stitching, reading with Salem on her lap, or playing the marimba!
Dr. Matthew Poe is an Associate Veterinarian at Ark Veterinary Hospital. Dr Poe earned his Bachelor of Science in Pre-Veterinary Medicine from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2017 and his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University in 2022. His areas of interest include urgent care, surgery, and client education. He is excited to start his career at Ark!
Dr. Poe grew up in Chicopee, MA and is currently enjoying life in Rochester with his two cats, Tom and Nimbus. He has worked in the veterinary field since high school, progressing through every role from receptionist, assistant, technician, and finally veterinarian. In his free time Dr. Poe enjoys spending time outside hiking and kayaking, and relaxing inside watching TV and playing xbox.
Jordan DeSalvo was born in Iowa, and moved here to Rochester NY when she was 7 years old. She currently resides in Lima, NY. She has worked in the animal field since Ark opened in 2018, but helped her mom (Dr. Seidel) at East River as well growing up. There are so many things she loves about being in the animal field and being an employee at Ark, but what she loves most is seeing a pet’s health turn around after treatment. Even more, seeing the clients reaction when their pet’s health turns around, and we helped. She is currently working as a medical receptionist, but is going back to school in the winter to work towards becoming an LVT. She lives with her husband Ray and their 4 cats - Koda, Binx, Luna and Astro, along with their German Shepherd Dog, MayZee. In her free time she loves to hike, kayak, camp, do photography, snowboard and spend time with her fur babies and loved ones.
Sarah grew up in Rochester and has been working with animals for the past few years. She loves to be involved with urgent care animals and helping sick pets! Sarah graduated from Alfred State College in 2020 with an Associate's Degree in Veterinary Technology and also completed an internship program at UTCVM. She has three dogs and one cat and enjoys spending time with friends and family and outside on the lake.
Kelsee received her Bachelor's degree in Biology from SUNY Brockport College in 2014 before getting her LVT in 2016 from GCC. She has since worked in the veterinary field and joined our team in October of 2019. Outside of Ark, Kelsee enjoys being outdoors and doing home renovation projects.
Chrissy grew up in Rochester and has been a licensed veterinary technician since 2011 and has been with ARK since November 2020. She has a bachelor's degree in biology and an associate's in veterinary technology from Medaille College. Her special interests include exotics, surgery and she enjoys building relationships with owners over the years as their animals grow. She finds urgent care rewarding because of the improvement seen after treatments/surgery. Chrissy has a Pembroke corgi named Archibald Herkimer and a DSH named Asneeze that she kept after bottle feeding him. When not at work she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, kayaking, hiking, and reading.
Danielle grew up on a small farm in Ontario NY, then bounced from Buffalo to Brooklyn, then Norfolk, Virginia to Saint Paul Minnesota. She found out Dorothy was right, there really IS no place like home. Danielle's first best friend was a dog named Matsu, who happened to look a lot like Toto. Danielle came to ARK Veterinary Hospital in January and is thrilled to be working with animal lovers like herself. Danielle is a current master's in social work student at Nazareth College. she holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Buffalo State College, where her focus was behavior modification, and she earned her license in Veterinary Technology in 2005 after attending Medaille College.
Danielle is a fierce advocate for animals and finds herself at home with ARK walking through difficult times with animal companion parents and providing their loved ones with the best care to help get them home. When she's not at work, you can find Danielle deep in reading and working on papers and projects for school, hugging her best rescue boy (abandoned on the porch of Second Hand Dog Rescue), Theodore Figaro Roosevelt, listening to her favorite true crime podcasts, singing songs because that's what her feline companion Kitty Hawk has loved since she was a tiny kitten (Kitty Hawk was dropped from the talons of a hawk in VA-Danielle will tell you her fierce foster fail fought back forcing the hawk to drop her-but really only Kitty Hawk knows the truth, and you'd probably catch her scolding Easter Betty White, very possibly the most troublesome kitten around.
Courtney grew up in Rochester and has had a passion in caring for animals since she can remember! She graduated from GCC with her associates in veterinary technology in 2020. She has experience in the general practice animal hospitals but feels she has found her true passion in urgent care. She loves the variety of cases and challenges she is faced with every day in urgent care and being able to nurse them back to health is even more rewarding.
Courtney resides in the country with her husband, 3 young children, 2 senior pitbulls, 2 kitties, African fat tailed gecko, and beta fish. She loves to enjoy the outdoors and hike with the kids, hubby, and dogs. Concerts and festivals are also a family favorite :)
Kirsten has worked in the animal field for over 20 years. She received her LVT license in 2002. She is also Fear Free certified. Kirsten currently resides in Churchville with her dog named Dutchess, and two cats - Racey and Zaba.
Keri grew up in Pike, NY and has been an LVT and in the animal field for 6 years. Keri went to GCC for her LVT. Keri loves working at Ark and seeing and meeting new animals. She has a 6-year-old Rough Collie named Hisoka, and a 2-year-old DMH named Momiji.
Josey grew up in Castile NY. She has been in the animal field since 2018. She has been employed at Ark since August 2023. She loves being able to help animals in any way and educating owners on issues they may be experiencing and that not every day is the same here at Ark. Josey graduated from Alfred State in 2018 with an Associates degree in Vet Tech & Agriculture Technology. She passed her VTNE in August 2018, and obtained her B. Tech in May 2023 with Equine Science with a concentration of therapeutics. She was then got certified in 2019 in Sports Massage Therapy for equines and canines. Josey has 4 dogs, 2 cats and 1 horse. Josey spends her free time hiking, barrel racing and taking care of her clients.
Cory grew up upside of Rochester and started in the small animal field in 1996 as a kennel attendant. He graduated from Delhi College with an associates degree and has accrued 500 hours of continuing education. Cory likes helping animals in many ways, but his main interest is animal behavior. He is married with 2 children, 2 dogs, 2 cats and many fish! His hobbbies include boating, fishing, biking, hiking and video games.
Cydney grew up in Palmyra NY and has loved animals for as long as she can remember. She has an Associates Degree in Equine Science and Management from Suny Morrisville, and she is currently in the process of getting her vet tech degree from Penn Foster. Cydney loves spending time outside with her dog Eddie and doing things like hiking and kayaking. She loves learning new things through her time at Ark and she can't wait to learn even more.
Katie grew up in West Irondequoit, NY and has been in the animal field since 2016. She joined Ark in June 0f 2019 and loves being able to help clients’. She loves being able to work with people from all over, hear their stories and love on their animals. She loves working under Dr. Seidel and thinks that every vet that has been a part of Ark has brought amazing skills and qualities to the hospital. She loves working with such a compassionate, hardworking, caring team. She has 2 cats, Spyro and Ripto and a teenage son, Nathan. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, camping, playing video games, going for long drives with no destination and hanging out with hospital staff outside of work.
Alyssa was born and raised in Rochester; she has worked in the veterinary field for 2 years. She has worked for Ark since September 2023. Her favorite part about working for Ark is seeing all the exotic animals, especially bunnies! She also loves the daily opportunity to help animals and the fast-paced work environment. Prior to switching to the veterinary field, she had a passion for counseling and psychology. After receiving her bachelor's degree in psychology, she was working towards her master's degree in counseling before the untimely death of her beloved guinea pig Ruby, which inspired her to drop out of the master's program and enroll in the veterinary technician program at GCC. She is the proud mom to her two bunnies Henry & Lilly, her three guinea pigs Wren, Willow and Olive, and her newest addition, a rescue kitty named Eevee. In her free time, she and her partner can often be found hiking, camping, gardening, working on her tropical plants, making art or reading.
This is Alicia, she grew up in Voorhees, NJ and originally began working in the veterinary field late 2020, working in primary care in Philadelphia, PA. She then moved to Rochester at the end of 2023 and started her urgent and emergency career after she moved to New York. So far, she enjoys working with urgent cases and looks forward to continuing to help pets in need.
She has a bundle of animals of her own at home which include 4 dogs, 4 cats, and 1 ferret. Roxxie a Rottie Dobbie mix, Cider a Pointer Lab mix, Seraphina the Corgi, and an extremely chaotic Dalmatian named Ullr Vidarr make up her dog family. Her 4 cats are Luna, Sage (Schnitzel), Avocado, and Viscount Calix of Avalon who is best friends with her ferret Werifesteria. In her spare time, she enjoys going on hikes with her dogs, caring for plants, and reading.
Andi grew up in Naples, NY, but moved to Honeoye, NY her junior/senior year. After, she went onto Finger Lakes Community College where she graduated with an A.A.S. in Criminal Justice, and a minor in Anthropology.
She has always had pets in her life, but started actively working in the professional field with them around 2015.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, 2 dogs, and 3 cats.
Say hello to Betty who has been a veterinary receptionist for almost 7 years now and started at ARK in June of 2023. She loves being a part of this hospital and the help we provide to the animals and owners in this community. With a warm smile and positive attitude, Betty hopes to provide comfort and care to all who come in!
Beyond scheduling appointments and doling out treats, Betty enjoys performing in musical theater with her boyfriend, painting, singing and all things arts and crafts. You can usually catch her singing up at the front desk!
Betty's 12 year old kitty, Legolas, is her pride and joy and she would consider him to be her baby. She can't wait to expand her cat family in the future!
Introducing Bethany, our four-legged whisperer and chief paw-sitivity officer at the front desk. With a diploma in decoding barks and a knack for turning waiting rooms into impromptu pet therapy sessions, she's the maestro of managing tails and tales alike. When she's not orchestrating the perfect symphony of appointments, she moonlights as the office cat's personal life coach.
Located off of exit 46 on the NY State Thruway (I-90).
Phone: 585-487-8700
*IMPORTANT*:
We may consider closing our office an hour early Friday through Monday if there are no clients scheduled for appointments or if there is limited foot traffic. Our primary goal is to ensure optimal service during our operating hours. By adjusting our closing time based on demand, we can better allocate our resources and maintain efficiency. When you call for an urgent care case, please be sure to listen to our on-hold/after-hours messaging which will detail our operating hours for that evening. You can also always check our Facebook for updates.