DOCTORS

Dr. Sam Romano, DVM, MBA

Sam Romano owns and manages Central Veterinary Emergency Services located in the Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado (VRCC) in Denver since 1992. Prior to his association with CVES and VRCC Dr. Romano was in small animal general practice from 1983 to 1991 in Denver.

Dr. Romano earned his D.V.M. degree from Colorado State University in 1983 and an MBA in 2000. He has completed the Veterinary Management Institute program (VMI) at Purdue University. Sam is a longtime member of the American Animal Hospital Association and the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society.

Areas of interest include human resource management, organizational development, and championing the human-pet bond. He lives in Arvada with wife Mary, children Natalie and Nicholas, and special Fox Terrier Sophie.

Dr. Luke Rump, DVM

Dr. Luke Rump graduated from Iowa State University in 1993. Dr. Rump completed an internship in emergency and critical care at the Veterinary Institute of Trauma, Emergency and Critical Care in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1994. Dr. Rump practiced emergency and critical care in St. Louis, Missouri and Boulder, Colorado before joining CVES in 1997.

Dr. Julie Aiello, DVM

Dr. Julie Aiello graduated from Colorado State University in 1980 and practiced small animal medicine and emergency medicine in the Denver area. Dr. Aiello joined CVES in 1990.

Dr. Mindy Mullins, DVM

Originally from Bluff City, Tennessee, Dr. Mindy Mullins was an Undergraduate at the University of Tennessee where she completed a double-major in Biology/Zoology and obtained her Masters in Neuropsychology. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Ross University of Veterinary Medicine, with clinics at the University of Missouri, in 2002. Mindy was later certified in Acupuncture from the Chi Institute in Gainesville, Florida in 2004.

On a personal level she has lived in eight states in the last nine years, is a vegetarian and enjoys all outdoor activities, including hiking, running, skiing, biking, and dressage. A bit of trivia, Dr. Mullins used to participate in dressage (competitive horse training) and hunters and jumpers competitions. The loves of her lives are her family and husband along with two Great Danes Trump and Trek, her Chihuahua Mickey, her Spaniel mix Nellie, and her horse Riley.

Dr. Ryan Bragg, DVM

Originally from Colby Wisconsin, Ryan Bragg took a less then direct route to Small Animal Emergency Medicine. He completed both undergraduate and veterinary degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Despite originally planning on pursuing bovine and poultry medicine he found his niche in emergency medicine. He completed a rotating medical and surgical internship at South Shore Animal Hospital in the Boston area before joining CVES in 2006. Professional interests include pediatrics, pharmacology and trauma management. When not at work he can usually be found outdoors accompanied by the best dog ever, Billie.

Dr. Cristina Sharkey, DVM

Dr. Sharkey is a Colorado native. She grew up in north Denver (Westminster) and pursued higher education at Colorado State University. She received two undergraduate degrees (Biology and Zoology) from CSU before attending the Veterinary School at CSU. Upon obtaining her DVM degree in 2001 she went into general daytime practice that had an emergency clinic at night. After covering several ER shifts Dr Sharkey fell in love with the veterinary specialty and has been practicing in Emergency Medicine for the past 4 1/2 years. She joined CVES in November of 2005. Special interests of Dr. Sharkey include Behavior Medicine (she did a preceptorship at the Animal Behavior Department at the University of California Davis) and soft tissue surgery.     


Dr Tina Sharkey and her husband Dr. Steve Sharkey (mixed animal practitioner in Ft. Morgan) share their house with 4 dogs-greyhound, heeler, pug boxer mix, a very cute terrier and 4 cats who range in age from 2yrs to 18 yrs. When not working or commuting to Johnstown she enjoys spending time with her friends and eating at new restaurants in the north area.

Dr. Heather Gill, DVM

Dr. Heather Gill completed a Small Animal Medicine and Surgery rotating Internship through the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 2007.  Dr. Gill was awarded her DVM from Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in May 2006.  Her undergraduate Bachelor of Science and minor in business studies were earned through the State University of New York at Geneseo.  Dr. Gill has shown herself to be a leader both academically and professionally and we look forward to her offering those same qualities to the CVES and VRCC team.

Dr. Shane Zambon, DVM

Dr. Shane Zambon completed a rotating Small Animal Internship through Ohio State University in July 2007 after receiving her DVM from Purdue University in 2006.  Dr. Zambon also pursued education and gained experience at Southern Illinois University and the Dundee Animal Hospital in Dundee, Illinois, as well as the University of Glasgow and University of Glasgow Farm and O’Kane Farms in Glasgow, Scotland.  Her varied educational and work background along with her intrigue and interest in Emergency medicine make her a wonderful addition to our team.

BUSINESS SPECIALIST

Joan VanDewater - Business Specialist

Ms. VanDewater joined the CVES staff in March of 2003 as Business Specialist. She received her B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management from The Master's College in Santa Clarita, California in May of 1993. After moving to Colorado in 1995, Joan gained experience in Project Management, Customer Service/Technical Support Management, and Office Management through her 4+ years of employment at Learn2.com. Most recently Joan served as the Program Support Assistant to the Administrator and Medical Director of the Integrative Medicine Program at the University of Colorado Hospital helping to start the program from scratch. She then decided to take her experience and knowledge gained through human medicine and apply it to animal medicine at CVES.

Ms. VanDewater will work in tandem with the management team that consists of Dr. Sam Romano, Dr. Luke Rump, and Tammi Abt to provide management and leadership to the exceptional CVES team of Doctors and Technicians

TECHNICIANS

Tammi Abt - Technician Manager
A Colorado native, Tammi grew up loving animals. After high school graduation Tammi worked for 10 years in Credit Customer Service and Collections before deciding to return to school to become a veterinary technician. Tammi graduated from Bel-Rea school of Veterinary Technology in September of 1998 and joined the technician staff of CVES in December of the same year. In her spare time Tammi teaches scuba diving and enjoys traveling.

Shawn Chojnacki-Nelson
Shawn moved from southern California to attend Bel-Rea Institute of Animal Technology.  After graduating in December 2000, she immediately began working with CVES, soon realizing her passion for Emergency and Critical Care.

She loves spending time with her husband, Sean, and their 3 cats, Sarabella, Fatty, and Boots, and their 2 dogs, a very energetic 3-legged pit bull, Lefty Loosey and newest addition, Linus.  She also enjoys traveling (especially anywhere near the ocean), going to the
movies, and shopping! .

Jaclyn Martinez

Kristine Rotundo

Kristine worked at a Veterinary hospital for 4 years while living in her home state of Connecticut. She moved to Colorado in 2002 to attend Bel-Rea Institue of Animal Technology, graduating as a Certified Veterinary Technician in 2003. She has a special interest in Emergency and Critical Care. She has crazy dogs, Linkin and Zartan, who love being at the dog park and swimming. She also enjoys being outdoors, skateboarding and reading.

Ray Zeuner

Ray has been a Colorado Resident since moving from Ohio in 1998. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Computer Information Science of Engineering from The Ohio State University where he went on to work as a software engineer. After being bored with staring at a computer all day, he switched careers and became a Certified Veterinary Technician. Ray enjoys biking and other outdoor activities and lives day to day through Seinfeld reruns.

Charles DuBree

Charles has been a Certified Veterinary Technician for 9 years, graduating from Bel Rea in 1999.  After pursuing an education in art history, he decided to take an alternate route working with animals,  After working in general practice, Charles began to appreciate work involving emergency medicine and joined CVES in 2006.  In his free time, Charles enjoys spending time with his cat “Puss”, studying French, and traveling the globe.

Janette Vuksinich

A Colorado Native, Janette graduated from the Bel-Rea Institute of Animal Technology in December of 1998.  She worked in general practice for 2 years prior to joining the Specialty Patient Care team at VRCC 7 years ago.  She has also been with Central Emergency Services for the past 5 years.  She attended Metropolitan State College of Denver for 5 years in pursuit of a degree in zoology, business management, and an Associate Brokers degree in real estate.  Janette enjoys spending time with her English Mastiff Jade and Jades kitty Toni.  Other interests include spending time in the mountains, mountain biking/cycling, scuba diving, traveling to new places, forensic sciences, and reading.

Stephanie Hand, CVT

Stephanie attended the Bel-Rea Institute of Animal Technology and graduated as a Certified Veterinary Technician in 2001 then joined the CVES staff in July 2007. Stephanie is a Colorado native.  She has three cats: Libby, Neko and Volvo and loves spending time with them and her soon to be husband Mathew.

Maty Santana, CVT

Maty earned her Bachelors degree from the Universtiy of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, Veterinary Technolgoy Program in 1994.  After working in Puerto Rico for eight years she moved to Colorado with her husband in 2002.  She gained additional experience with other local veterinary hospitals before joining CVES in June of 2007.  Maty and her husband have 2 dogs, ”Kike” and “India”; 5 birds (3 lovebirds, a cocatiel and “Diego” an Amazon); and a turtle named “Poseidon”.

Olivia Kong, CVT

Olivia is a gradute of the Bel-Rea institute of Animal Technology.  She gained three years of work experience in general practice before joining CVES in July of 2007.  She also earned a BA from the American Univeristy in Paris in European Culture and Philosophy.  A Colorado native, Olivia enjoys reading historical biographies and is “owned” by her chihuahua named “Pepin the Short”.

Jennifer Steinmetz, Veterinary Technician

Jennifer has always had an affinity towards animals and during her undergratuate studies in Gunnison, began an intership shadowing doctors at a local veterinary hospital.  She soon began to realize that she loved the hands on training she was getting as a Technician and has since worked as a Veterinary Technician.  Through her experience she has learned that Emergency medicine Tech work is her passion.  Jennifer is a Colorado native currently living in the mountains.  She enjoys spending free time with her friends, watching football, reading and playing with her Yellow lab, Great Dane mix “Dodge”.

Crystal Mower, CVT

Crystal Mower is a Certified Veterinary Technician.  She received her AAS in Veterinary Technology at the Community College of Denver in 2005.  Crystal loves emergency medicine and was excited to join our team in July 2006. Crystal and her boyfriend have a beautiful baby girl named Chloe as well as two dogs and three cats.  In her spare time she loves spending time with her family.

Becki Jamin, CVT

Becki joined the CVES team in January of 2007 after working in general practice for 9 years and the Neurology department here at vrcc for 2 years.  She has an associates degree from the Bel-Rea institute of Technology and a Bachelors degree in Animal Technology from the University of Denver.  She shares her home with two italian  
greyhounds, Claudia and Lucia and her doberman Torin.  The newest addition to her family is a feisty kitten named Hecktor, a black domestic short hair.  When she is not at work she enjoys spending time with her friends and getting pampered at a local spa.

Jennifer Rullo, CVT

Jen joined Central in November of 2008 after working several years in a general veterinary practice.  She earned a Bachelor's of Science degree from Eastern Kentucky University in 2000 and promptly moved to California where she worked as a marine mammal trainer for several years before turning to the veterinary medicine world.  Jen shares her days with her husband Brian and their three dogs Tavish, Trudy, and Mojo and the cat Ceili.