As the premier emergency and specialty hospital for pets in western Michigan, our 21,000-square-foot hospital is equipped with human-quality medical technology and equipment.
The devoted and skilled team is ready to provide the highest quality care and attention for your pet, and clinical staff is onsite 24/7 for patient care.
Free Beer and Blanche's BluePearl Story.
A tale of hope and healing
Gregg “Free Beer” Daniels, co-host of WGRD's Free Beer and Hot Wings Morning Show, has a spirited and playful dog named Blanche. She brings immense joy to her whole family, and they love her dearly.
After surgery at her family vet to remove something in her digestive tract, Blanche’s recovery was going smoothly until the following week when she began struggling to use her back legs and lost control of her bodily functions. That’s when her family vet recommended taking Blanche to BluePearl Pet Hospital to see a specialist.
After a few tests and a physical exam, veterinary neurologist Dr. Michael Deihl, made a breakthrough discovery: A tiny birth defect hole was allowing an infection to reach her spine. Blanche got the spinal surgery she needed and started recovering right away.
“They literally saved her life,” said Gregg. “The care from BluePearl was extremely reassuring during a time when we were very anxious.”
Blanche made a full recovery and is back to spending precious moments with her family, including celebrating her first birthday post-surgery.
Emergency and specialty pet care in Grand Rapids.
We aim to care for and treat patients so you can return home with your pet – happy and healthy.
Emergency Medicine
If you believe your pet is sick, hurt or in distress, we’re here to provide expert care. Our trained emergency clinicians are prepared to diagnose and treat urgent cases, including severely injured or critically ill pets. Common emergency cases we see include:
Animal attacks
Bleeding
Collapse episodes
Difficulty breathing
Difficulty urinating
Hit-by-car accidents
Ingestion of medications, poisons or objects
Seizure
Severe diarrhea
Unresponsiveness
Vomiting
Through every step of your pet’s emergency care experience, we keep you and your pet’s primary veterinarian informed and involved.
Diagnostic Imaging
Our radiology service performs many non-invasive and minimally invasive diagnostic procedures. These services allow the specialty clinicians unique, non-invasive opportunities for evaluating various diseases.
Our hospital uses advanced technology to produce detailed images of inside a pet’s body, helping us deliver more accurate diagnoses and build better treatment plans, including:
MRI
CT
Ultrasound
Endoscopy
Digital radiography
Internal Medicine
Veterinary internists are trained to take care of patients who can’t tell them what’s wrong. By using the pet’s history, clinical signs, lab results, imaging studies and other testing, our internal medicine specialists can diagnose severe, chronic illnesses or symptoms that appear suddenly.
Neurology
Our neurology team uses advanced imaging technologies, cutting-edge medical therapies and surgical procedures to diagnose and treat patients with neurological disorders that affect the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
Some of the most common neurological disorders we see include:
Epilepsy and other seizure disorders
Brain and spinal cord trauma
Disc herniation and other lumbosacral disorders
Brain tumors
Neuromuscular disease
Encephalitis
Oncology
Our compassionate oncology team offers a variety of treatment options for pets with cancer. From initial diagnosis to ongoing care, we are focused on promoting your pet’s quality of life.
We take an integrative approach to treating cancer that includes:
Taking time to listen to and answer all questions and concerns about cancer treatment
Creating a treatment plan tailored to each patient and client’s individual needs
Working within client’s schedules for therapy delivery
Maintaining regular updates with referring family veterinarians
By helping every pet owner understand their pet’s disease and by providing appropriate educational tools, we all work together to improve and extend each pet’s quality of life.
Ophthalmology
For pets experiencing eye problems, our ophthalmology team is trained to diagnose and treat a variety of ocular conditions using surgical and non-invasive techniques. Your primary veterinarian may refer you to our ophthalmology service if your pet is experiencing problems like:
Cataracts
Cornea injuries
Retinal disease
Dry eye
Eyelid and eyelash injuries or abnormalities
Glaucoma
Inflammation and conjunctivitis
Third eyelid, or cherry eye
Surgery
When your pet needs surgery, our veterinary surgery team is ready to provide the best possible care. Our hospital is equipped with advanced tools, technology and monitoring capabilities to provide sophisticated medical care and compassionate service during your pet’s time of need.
Surgery may be the best option for pets with:
Cancer
Chronic diseases like ear or respiratory tract infections
Congenital conditions like dysplasia or heart defects
Hernias
Trauma or injuries, including fractures, ligament and tendon injuries
Our veterinarians.
Caring for your pets is our passion. Meet our team of veterinary specialists here to help you and your pet.
Dr. Aly Conflitti has a special interest in emergency medicine, critical care, internal medicine, radiology and feline medicine. She is trained in special procedures such as endoscopy and ultrasound. She is passionate about rescue and involved in fostering.
Education
Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan
Bachelor of Science, Biochemistry, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant
Off Duty
Dr. Conflitti and her husband have seven beloved rescue pets. The loves of her life are a blue point Siamese named Goose and a coconut retriever named Reggie. Her other passions outside of work include hiking, traveling, riding the Peloton, taking Reggie to the beach and spending time with her family.
Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital, Copley, OH
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames
Bachelor of Arts, Rutgers State University, East Brunswick, NJ
Off Duty
Dr. Conkling enjoys staying active with her husband and five children, being a soccer mom and helping with the family’s race event company. The family has a Maltese mix named Peter Parker, two cats named Phineas and Ferb, and chickens.
Dr. Christine Swanson is the medical director of our Grand Rapids hospital. She is especially interested in combination chemotherapy as extracted from human medicine and how that can be combined with complementary medicine.
Education
Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Oncology)
Residency, Oncology, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Michigan Veterinary Specialists, Southfield
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Bachelor of Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Off Duty
Dr. Swanson enjoys baking and spending time outdoors with her two children and husband. Cedar, a Cane Corso, and Willow, a Labrador retriever, are always eager to fill the rest of the daylight hours with an uplifting game of fetch.
Dr. Danielle Pettifor is a well-rounded clinician with a special interest in exotic animal medicine. Her favorite cases are those involving cardiology, internal medicine and trauma.
Education
Clinical year, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Ross University, St. Kitts, West Indies
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN
Off Duty
When not in the ER, Dr. Pettifor is enjoying the great outdoors. She likes to go for hikes and go swimming with her husband, daughter and dog.
Dr. Elizabeth Brand’s clinical interests include toxicities, trauma and working collaboratively with medical and surgery departments. She enjoys the variety of emergency medicine and exploring new areas of veterinary medicine.
Education
Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, University of Minnesota, St. Paul
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Bachelor of Science, Biology, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo
Off Duty
Dr. Brand enjoys mountain biking, hiking and traveling with her husband. Together they have three dogs – an Australian shepherd mix (Kirsi), a border collie mix (Russel) and a Brittany spaniel (River).
Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Michigan Veterinary Specialists, Southfield
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Bachelor of Arts, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI
Off Duty
Dr. Sila loves being outside and traveling and hiking through remote areas. She’s a longtime casual runner and also enjoys cooking and baking. She and her husband have a very active border collie and Australian shepherd and an even more active young son.
Within his specialty of internal medicine, Dr. Sharpe is particularly interested in immune-mediated diseases, liver disease and endocrinology.
Education
Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine
Residency, Internal Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center, Norwalk, CT
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Bachelor of Science, Oakland University, Rochester, MI
Off Duty
Dr. Sharpe enjoys running, fly fishing, hiking and camping with his wife, three sons and dog Agnes, a Shih Tzu. He also has a bearded dragon named Lepard Gekgo and some hermit crabs.
Dr. Maika Sharpe is especially interested in animal behavior, dermatology, and dentistry.
Education
Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Norwalk, CT
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Bachelor of Science, Pre-veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Off Duty
Dr. Sharpe and her husband, also a veterinarian, live in Grand Rapids with their three sons, two dogs, and one cat. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, running, gardening, and nature hikes.
Dr. Michael Diehl’s professional interests include seizure management and neurologic emergencies, neuro-oncology, luxations/fractures of the spine and inflammatory CNS disorders.
Education
Residency, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Dogwood Veterinary Referral Center, Farmington, MI
Internship, Neurology, Animal Specialty Center, Yonkers, NY
Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Veterinary Specialists and Emergency Services, Rochester, NY
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Starkville
Master of Science, Natural Science, Immunology, State University of New York, Buffalo
Bachelor of Science, Biology, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
Off Duty
Dr. Diehl enjoys weight training, Syracuse University lacrosse, wildlife management and conservation, art, photography, hiking, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding.
Dr. Nick Sterner’s clinical interests include internal medicine, laceration repairs, feline urethral obstructions and canine dystocias.
Education
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames
Bachelor of Science, Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames
Off Duty
Dr. Sterner and his husband live in western Michigan with their two golden retrievers, Piper and Phoebe. He enjoys horseback riding, reading, gardening, yoga, lounging by the pool and exploring the beautiful state that he now calls home.
Before going back to vet school, Dr. Yoojin Kim was a writer and editor for one of the largest publishers in South Korea.
Dr. Kim enjoys all aspects of internal medicine and its complexity. Her special interests include nephrology, hepatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology and immune-mediated disease. She is skilled in ultrasonography and endoscopic procedures including bronchoscopy, rhinoscopy, cystoscopy and GI endoscopy.
Dr. Kim enjoys providing clients and their pets with evidence-based, tailored diagnostic and treatment plans while maintaining the highest quality of life possible for patients.
Education
Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine
Residency, Small Animal Internal Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul
Internship, Small Animal Internal Medicine, Coral Springs Animal Hospital, FL
Internship, Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Dogs and Cats Veterinary Referral & Emergency, Bowie, MD
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea
Bachelor of Arts, Journalism & Mass Communication, Ewha Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea
Off Duty
Dr. Kim and her husband can often be found near the water, in the woods or traveling around new places with their daughter. She enjoys swimming, canoeing, camping, performing arts, reading and jogging in the morning.
On rainy days, Dr. Kim and her family like to bake bread, cookies and cakes together. The family shares their house with two boy cats, Hobo and Marsh(mellow), and they are looking forward to getting dogs when their daughter is big enough to (partially) accomplish walking duties for them.
Our pet hospital.
Providing our customers with exceptional service is a top priority. We’re committed to making your veterinary visit as smooth as possible.