Dr. Edward Metcalf, DVM
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Dr. Edward Metcalf is originally from Hayward, Wisconsin and earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1995. After practicing in a mixed animal practice in Mondovi for four years, he moved back to Hayward to start his own large animal practice. In 2014 Dr. Metcalf added the business name, Leading Edge Veterinary Services. Dr. Metcalf practices on all large animals and his areas of interest are dairy herd health management and bovine reproduction. He resides east of Hayward on his family farm. He enjoys camping, hunting and spending time with his sons, Ross and Tom.
Dr. Jim Zoet, DVM
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Dr. Jim Zoet recently relocated to Stone Lake area after practicing veterinary medicine in Madison for 20+ years. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison with his DVM degree in 1996. After practicing in 24/7 emergency and referral clinics for the first 15 years, he settled in day practice on Madison's west side for the last several years. He joined the LEVS team in the fall of 2021 on a part time basis. His other work consists of home building with a crew out of Stone Lake. He also dabbles in fishing, gardening, beer tasting (Go Whistle Punk!), and biking. Jim likes spending time at the lake with his family and friends while getting outside to enjoy as much of the beautiful north woods as possible.
Dr. Kaitlyn Inhoff Cook, DVM
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Dr. Kaitlyn Cook graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 2011. She spent her first few years out of veterinary school practicing mixed animal medicine, before deciding to practice small animal medicine exclusively. She joined the team at Leading Edge Veterinary Services in September 2022. She grew up in Hayward and now resides in Rice Lake with her Husband, Jason and two children.
Dr. Elroy Roedel, DVM
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Dr. Elroy Roedel graduated from Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1983. He began his professional career in Whitewater, WI for 3 years, before spending the next 36 years at Loyal, WI in a mixed animal practice. In Fall of 2022, he relocated to a home on Nelson Lake near Hayward with his wife Deb, dog Bumper, and cat Grau, and became part of the LEVS team after several months of pretirement. Fishing, boating and exploring Great Lakes lighthouses keeps them busy during the months and volunteering on the Veterinary Team for various Sled Dog races and snowshoeing occupies their wintertime.
Dr. Ashley Schmal, DVM
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Dr. Ashley Schmal earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Minnesota in 2018. Since graduation she has experience in both general practice and emergency medicine and has worked with a great variety of species including wildlife and exotic animals. Her professional interests include surgery and emergency medicine. Beyond her professional ventures, Dr. Schmal enjoys a variety of hobbies including birding, hiking, gardening and wildlife photography. She has four pets of her own that keep her busy as well: two lovable cats - Bailey and Clary; and two energetic young dogs - Finley and Poppy.
Lisa Schmock, Business Manager
Lisa started working for Dr. Ed Metcalf in 2007, doing part-time accounting, and became full time business manager for Leading Edge Veterinary Services in 2018. She has over 34 years of experience in accounting and office management, beginning with Oakwood Hills Animal Hospital in Eau Claire. Lisa is originally from Hayward, is married, has two grown daughters, and two beautiful granddaughters. Lisa owned horses for 30 years and loves horseback riding. She also enjoys spending time with her granddaughters, her dogs, Fergus & Benny, four cats, raising chickens, reading, cooking, biking, hiking and camping with family & friends.
Jennifer Oates, Practice Manager, Veterinary Technician
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Jennifer joined the LEVS team in January 2019. Jennifer started her veterinary career in a busy 24 hour emergency referral center in Albuquerque, New Mexico after obtaining her certificate as a veterinary assistant from Pima Medical Institute in May 2006. She then went on to pursue her Associate Degree in her home state of Illinois and graduated from Rockford Career College from the Veterinary Technician program in June 2010. She has over 10 years of experience working in small animal medicine. Jennifer is originally from Northern Illinois and relocated to Hayward in 2015. Outside of working at LEVS, she has two children that keep her busy, and also enjoys being out on the area lakes fishing, snowmobiling, riding ATV’s, or hiking the trails with her golden retriever.
Amber Spiegel, Operations Manager/Receptionist
Amber has resided in Stone Lake, Wisconsin since 2013, with her husband Joshua and two daughters, Aspen and Maddie. She graduated Northland College in 2012, with a B. S. in Biology, then graduated from a veterinary assistant program through Penn Foster. She's worked with Dr. Metcalf for a little over three years in the office and on ride-alongs, to assist in the field. She spent a little over four years working in animal rescue with the Northwoods Humane Society and enjoyed many foster pups through her work. She acquired her two pets, Cruiser and Greta through the shelter. She loves spending time enjoying the outdoors, jogging in her spare time, as well as downhill skiing with her mom and sister.
Grace Long, Certified Veterinary Technician
Grace joined LEVS in the summer of 2020 working as a Vet Assistant/Intern before going into her program at Northwood Technical College for the Veterinary Technician program. She has since come back as a Vet Assistant, finished her last year in Vet Tech school, passed her VTNE in December 2022 to become a Certified Veterinary Technician. She now works at LEVS full time. In the future she wants to become a Veterinary Technician Specialist in Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine. In her spare time she spends time with family and enjoying the outdoors. She is also hoping to become a Foster Mom for animals in need when she moves to Hayward, WI.
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Colleen Dressen, Finance Assistant
Colleen is originally from Marine On St. Croix, Minnesota and lived with her husband in Bloomington, Minnesota before moving to Springbrook, Wisconsin in 2006. She has over 30 years of experience in office management and administrative support. Colleen was the Office Manager of a mid-sized CPA firm in Edina, Minnesota for 14 years. Since moving to Springbrook, she has held administrative positions with law and investment firms, health organizations and non-profits. She and her husband Don live next to a creek and have plenty of woods and acreage for their Golden Doodle, Gunner, to run and play in. Colleen loves the outdoors, gardening, their little pontoon boat in the summer and just "livin' the dream" in the Northwoods.
Jamie Balcsik, Veterinary Assistant
Jamie was born and raised in Minong. As a child she was fascinated with animals and their well-being. After she graduated high school, Jamie set her dreams into motion and went to school to be a vet assistant. In April 2011 She completed her schooling from U.S. Career Institute. Jamie has two amazing kids, son Tyler and daughter Hayden, and two fur babies Piper and Scarlett. Jamie is looking forward to her future here at LEVS.
Sam Seliga, Large Animal Veterinary Assistant
Sam joined LEVS as a large animal assistant in September 2021. She was born and raised in St. Paul Park, Minnesota, but spent every summer in Hayward growing up. She moved to Stone Lake permanently after graduating from the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities with a B.S. in Animal Science in 2014. She completed her internship at Wilderness Walk Zoo in 2012 and has stayed on since working with all of their small, large and exotic animals. Outside of work, Sam enjoys spending time with family and close friends, fishing and kayaking. She especially loves spending time with her horse, dog, cats, goats and chinchillas.
Grant Roedel, Receptionist/ Veterinary Assistant
Grant joined the LEVS team in the summer of 2022. He was born and raised in central Wisconsin, and attended college in Iowa at Wartburg College. Upon graduation, Grant moved up to the area and began working as a receptionist at LEVS. Grant plans to attend veterinary school come next fall, after taking a gap year. He currently has a cat named Kiki that he and his roommates rescued during college, and plans to have more animals including dogs and more cats! When winter rolls around, it becomes dogsled season for Grant! He has been involved with the vet teams for several dogsled races for the last 10 years. He can’t wait to continue this passion, and is excited for what is to come in life!
Emma Brauer, Groomer
Emma joined LEVS in July 2023. She is certified through Michigan School of Canine Cosmetology and has four years of grooming experience. Emma also received MSCC’s Compassionate Handling Award while attending Canine Cosmetology. Emma recently moved back to the Hayward area so some of you might remember her as the groomer at Northern Lakes Co-op Feed Mill.
McKayla Holden, Receptionist
McKayla joined LEVS in the summer of 2022 as a part time receptionist. She graduated from Northwoods Technical College in 2017 with an associates degree in Business Management. She is from the Hayward/Spooner area and recently built a house in Sarona, WI. She lives in her new home with her two boys John and Warren, border collie Roadie and has a pasture full of Morgan horses. Outside of work, she is a stay at home mom and enjoys riding her horses and spending time with her kids.
Paige Kershaw, Receptionist
Paige grew up in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. She moved to Shell Lake, Wisconsin in the summer of 2019. She graduated from Iowa State University in fall of 2023 with a B.S. in Animal Science. After graduating, she started working at LEVS as a receptionist. At a young age Paige knew she wanted to be in the animal science field as early as Kindergarten. Her earliest memories include her dressing up in scrubs and walking her stuffed animal dog on a leash during career day in Kindergarten. In her down time she loves being outside boating, four-wheeling, reading, being with family and friends or just simply enjoying the weather. Paige currently has an English Bulldog named Luna, who she loves to spoil and spend her extra time with. Paige is looking forward to her future here at LEVS.
Shellie Grothe, Kennel Assistant
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Shellie grew up on Vancouver Island, BC Canada. From an early age, she showed a keen interest in animals - she showed quarter horses as a youth rider with an interest in reining & cutting horses. She went to Olds College in Alberta, Canada for a farrier science certificate in her twenties, followed by a successful farrier business in Hayward & the surrounding areas after moving to Wisconsin in the 1970's. She then joined the distance riding community, training, showing & competing in various Arabian horse venues. Shellie has worked at LEVS boarding facility since 2022 where she loves taking care of the animals. She spends most of her off time enjoying the great north woods with her 4 dog family. She enjoys obedience & agility training her dogs & hopes to compete again in the future as she as successfully shown many dogs to multiple titles in the sports of American Kennel Club Obedience & Agility trials.
Nicole McCullough, Kennel Assistant
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Nicole started working at LEVS in July 2023. She is currently a homeschooled sophomore in high school. Nicole is very passionate about animals and loves taking care of the animals on her family's farm. After high school, she plans to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. She wants to gain as much clinical experience as she can right now while also helping in any was possible. Outside of work, she enjoys bonding with her horses, camping, reading, and crocheting.
Kayla Dudley, Kennel Assistant
Kayla started working at LEVS in October 2023. She has lived in the Cable, WI area most of her life. Growing up, Kayla always had a love for animals. She currently has two long-haired miniature dachshunds, Paislee & Wilbur. Kayla is currently attending Northwood Technical College and has future plans to become a Certified Veterinary Technician. In her spare time, Kayla enjoys spending time with friends, spoiling her dogs, exploring new places, kayaking, and hiking. Kayla is grateful to be a part of the LEVS team and is looking forward to her future here.