Veterinary care can be demanding - that is why we are dedicated to taking care of our own
myBalto's purpose is to make pet care more affordable and to improve the lives of pets, owners, and veterinarians.
About myBalto
As an emergency veterinarian, Dr. Robert often faced the distressing reality of pets not receiving adequate care due to their owners' financial struggles. The existing charitable options were frequently slow, burdened with restrictions, and unable to provide the immediate help needed in critical situations. This left many pets without the necessary care and their owners in heartbreaking predicaments.
Recognizing this critical gap, Dr. Robert turned to his brother, Nathan, for a solution. Together, they envisioned an innovative approach to ensure that no pet would suffer due to financial constraints. Their collaboration led to the creation of a system that allows veterinary hospitals to establish their own Angel funds. These funds are designed to provide swift, flexible support to pet parents facing financial hardships, enabling them to access the care their pets need when they need it most.
myBalto is inspired from the true story of Balto, the Alaskan sled dog who helped deliver life-saving medication to the children of Nome, Alaska during a diphtheria outbreak in the 1920's. To honor Balto and his fellow canine companions, we combined his name with "my" to help individuals recognize the medical purpose behind our mission (as is common with myHealth, myChart, etc). With myBalto, we are providing innovative ways for veterinarians to provide critical financial support to their patients, mirroring the life-saving ethos of Balto and his historic journey.
Meet the CEO
Board of Directors
Inspired by Veterinarians, Startup Professionals and Innovative Thinkers
Dr. Sheila McCullough is a highly experienced veterinarian with 36 years of dedicated service in the field. She is double boarded in internal medicine and critical care, which reflects her expertise and dedication to providing the best possible care to animals in need. Dr. McCullough's passion for teaching is evident in her work, as she enjoys mentoring and instructing veterinarians at all levels. When not working, Dr. McCullough can often be found outdoors with her rescue dog, Newman. She also enjoys cooking, despite admitting that she's not too good at it!
As a serial entrepreneur and technology-lover, Nathan has spent 10+ years in the FinTech, start-up industry. Following graduation at DePaul University, Nathan found his niche in streamlining business operations and introducing technology to expedite production. Since then, he has helped numerous companies create high-level MVP's, and has helped secure over 10M in financing through Series B rounds.
FAQ
Yes, the myBalto Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) and holds a tax-exempt status wit the IRS. Any individual who donate to the myBalto Foundation can claim a tax deduction on their return.
Our goal is to help as many vet hospitals as we can and the best way to do that is to offer the myBalto Charitable Fund as a FREE service. However, to help cover our overhead costs and software fees, we take between 5% - 8% of the funds accumulated by each hospital, and is reviewed semi-annually by the Board of Directors.
We think this goes without saying, but the only true restriction is no "cosmetic" procedures (i.e. lipoma removals, ear cropping, tail docking, etc). The goal of this fund is to serve as a last resort when options such as Care Credit, Scratch Pay, and other financial options have been exhausted.
Yes, they have to subscribe to our FREE plan so we can locate their pet in your hospital's myBalto platform to submit the claim. It takes less than five minutes to download the myBalto app and add their pet's information. They also receive other awesome financial benefits of the myBalto app as well when they sign up!
Once you submit the final vet bill and the claim is approve, we can initiate the transfer of funds within the next two-five business days depending on your bank.
Yes, we do ask for permission to access pet medical records for two reasons: 1) in order to maintain compliance and to adhere to regulations, we need to be able to randomly check Charitable Fund submissions from various hospitals to make sure funds are not being used inappropriately. Having access to pet's records allows us to confirm the submitted claim was performed in earnest. And 2) giving owner's 24/7 access to their pet's medical records saves your staff countless hours on calling for and sending pet medical records. Its been shown to make hospitals more efficient and help your doctors see more patients because they aren't waiting for medical records to arrive from other hospitals.
We raise money for your individual hospital by connecting to your point of sales (POS) system (this may be your veterinary management system or a 3rd party vendor). When owners are checking out of your clinic, they will be asked to round up to the nearest $1, $3, or $5. All funds raised go directly to your hospital fund!
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myBalto Foundation 501(c)(3) is a registered nonprofit and holds a tax-exempt status with the IRS.