Our Staff

Dr. Jonathan Bloom was born in Toronto and graduated from, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph in 1993. He joined Willowdale group in 1995. His special areas of professional interest include preventive healthcare and early detection screening, diseases of the eye and endocrinology. He was lead author in one of the most revered veterinary journals for his research in diseases of the eye and more recently, a key opinion speaker at veterinary seminars. He holds proud affiliations with the Ontario veterinary medical association, Canadian veterinary medical association, and College of Veterinarians of Ontario. Dr. Bloom also has a love for continuing education and professional advancement.

For Dr. Bloom his journey into veterinary medicine started as a child, with his love for the family dog – Bentley. Combine that with his affinity for helping people and soon after that, suggestions that he become a teacher because of his gift for communication and bringing about understanding. Helping pets became his passion, and knowing that I helped their owners became his gratification. Given a strong medical upbringing, looking after pets and their owners is simply where he had to be – nothing could be better.

Dr. Bloom’s hobbies include skiing, cooking, swimming, biking and more recently, a venture into snowboarding!

He has a wonderful family of 6 – including his fantastic wife, 2 wonderful daughters, a fantastic son, and the cutest pug ever – Ripley.

Dr. Cindy Krebs was born in Toronto and graduated with honours from Ontario Veterinary College in 1991. She joined Willowdale group in 1992. Her special areas of professional interest include emergency and critical care, pocket pets.

She had always wanted to be a veterinarian from a young age and has a keen interest in medicine and caring for animals. Since she adores animals, she deeply proud to be a practitioner of veterinary medicine.

Her Hobbies include: Hiking , wilderness camping and travelling.

She grew up in North York and currently lives in the beaches with her husband and our 2 dogs:
Jessie – bullmastiff x hound
Wiley – daschund x jack russell

Dr. Kate Hall was born right here in Ontario and graduated from the University of Guelph in 1993.
Her special areas of professional interest includes treating and caring for pocket pets, rabbits and greyhounds.

Dr. Hall’s hobbies include knitting, scuba diving, running ans she is a retired amateur boxer.

She has 2 wonderful sons, Ted and Christopher and her family pets include:
2 Dogs: Maddy a Chocolate Lab and Lily a black Lab/Sheppard Mix.
2 Cats: Max and Tbag
Amazon Parrot named Poncho
Her beloved retired greyhound Dawson passed away peacefully in 2011 at the age of 14 ½ years .

Dr. Michelle Azan-Backx, was born in Toronto, Ontario and graduated from Ontario Veterinary College in 1984. She joined the Willowdale group in 1994. Her areas of professional interest are, Small Animal Clinical Medicine and preventative medicine.

Dr. Azan-Backx wants owners to be able to enjoy their pet companions. With the proper care she believes vetrinarians can improve the quality of a pet’s life and increase the length of time that owners can share with their pets; it’s a win-win situation.

Her hobbies include: Reading, traveling, needle crafts, gardening (badly, but she tries), skiing, volleyball, tennis, aerobic training, Pilates.

She has been married since 1983, and has 4 children. Her pets include:
Zeus-my wonderful Boxer (10 years)
Oreo- our geriatric DLH  ( 18 years)
Ming-soo- our finicky Siamese (15 years)
Franky-newest edition, white Cockatiel, he’s the adolescent brat (1 year)

Dr. Patricia J. Lee was born in Saskatchewan and graduated from Ontario Veterinary College in 1977, the same year that joined Willowdale group. Her areas of professional interest include veterinary ultrasound and canine and feline medicine and surgery.

She is a deeply compassionate and caring person who loves life in the countryside in all seasons. Her hobbies include gardening, sailing and travelling.

Her pets include:
Juno – dachshund
Vixen, Beagle and Micah – G.Sx
Gus, Liam, Lucy and Misty – pussycats
Quakers and Dandelion – Ducks

Dr. Raffat Ibrahim was born in Athiopia and graduated from the Cairo University-Egypt in 1982. He joined our team at Willowdale in 2003. He is a passionate animal lover and his areas of special professional interest include medicine and surgery. He is also a practitioner from 1993 professional animal institute (Egypt) and holds post graduated merits in artificial insemination and embryo implantation in small and large animals.
 
Dr. Ibrahim’s hobbies include, music, play soccer, and living the quite life.
 
He is married and has 2 boys, Peter and Mina, who are soccer and guitar players.
 
His pets include:
Lika and Jack, Labrador Retrievers.
 
 

Mary joined the Willowdale team in May 2003. She enjoys spending time with her family–her husband, her 2 year old daughter, dog, Brooklyn and cat, Riley. Her hobbies include jogging and yoga. She also has a special interest in surgery, dentistry and educating clients on diabetes.

Ovi has graduated from University of Spiru Haret, Bucharest, Romania in 1996 with a degree in Veterinary Medicine. Prior to his arrival in Canada with his family, he worked as a veterinarian in a small animal clinic, in Bucharest. He joined the Willowdale Animal Hospital Group in 2001 as a veterinary technician. He is interested in surgery and imagistic diagnostic. Ovi owned a German shepherd, a cocker spaniel and a jack russel terrier that passed away recently. He was also a cocker spaniel breeder with great results at dog shows in Romania. Ovi loves to spend time with his family. He enjoys dancing, swimming and watching his son’s basketball games.

Marianna joined our team in August 2009. She graduated from the Pavit Asaf College (Israel) as a Make-up Artist and n 2008 Marianna graduated from the Herzing College (Winnipeg) as a Human Medical Assistant. In 2004 Marianna won “Employee of the Year” while working at Shoppers Drug Mart.

She enjoys music, singing along to karaoke and dancing.  Plus, she spends much of her time off cooking…mmmm…yummy.  Marianna is a very happy person, knows how to appreciate every moment in her life. She has a wonderful family (a son and a daughter…plus a great husband) and very good friends.

Denise joined the clinic in the fall of 2009. She has over 20 years of experience in retail and private business environments, specializing in inventory and operations. Over the years she has been awarded special recognition for her exemplary customer service and management skills.

Denise spends her downtime with her two teenage kids and two cats. She also enjoys going to the gym for a workout or practicing yoga.

Wendy is a longstanding member of the Willowdale group of hospitals. Wendy has been working with animals for over 30 years. Wendy loves watching her daughter horseback ride. She loves spending time with her husband and three children as well as her dog and two cats. She says, “Being CEO of my family is my second full-time job!” Wendy also loves boating, snowmobiling and spending time at the cottage as well as time in Newfoundland.