Meet the Team

• Dr Lawrence Baker Principal Veterinarian

  Dr Lawrence Baker Principal Veterinarian

  Prior to opening the Selwood House Veterinary Hospital Lawrence practised as a veterinarian in the Blue Mountains and at clinics in the UK, spending the majority of his time at a primary accession and exotic animal referral hospital in Leeds. In February 2014 Lawrence founded the Selwood House Veterinary Hospital and the following year integrated the Mid Mountains Animal Health Centre with Selwood House Vets. Lawrence has a keen interest in surgery and at Selwood House he aims to offer his clientele evidence-based, best practice veterinary care in a beautiful aesthetic environment. He lives in Blackheath with his wife Jess and their children Asher and Lilah and cat Molly, and when time permits he enjoys hiking, jogging, reading, gardening and awkwardly strumming an acoustic guitar.

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• Dr Mark Frost Clinical Director

  Dr Mark Frost Clinical Director

  Mark graduated from the University of Bristol and has practised as a veterinarian for over 10 years in the UK. In 2011, Mark and his wife Jennie visited Australia where he worked as a locum veterinary surgeon at a number of practices in Sydney. On returning to the UK, he worked for a practice in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare, became a partner and director at a practice in Taunton and worked in a large vet hospital in North Somerset. However, Mark and Jennie could not get Australia out of their minds, so decided to start the process of visa applications and organising to move half way around the world. Having visited the Blue Mountains previously and having spent a lot of time here, they had fallen in love with our landscape and lifestyle. Mark has a particular interest in small animal dental health and dental radiography. Outside of his professional life, Mark has a keen interest in bushwalking & landscape/wildlife photography – what better place to be than the Blue Mountains!

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• Dr Lynn Mathison HR Director and Animal Behaviour Veterinarian

  Dr Lynn Mathison HR Director and Animal Behaviour Veterinarian

  Dr Lynn is a local girl, born and bred in the lower mountains. She now lives in Warrimoo with her husband (a fellow animal lover), 2 kids, 2 cats, 1 dog and 4 guinea pigs! She loves all small creatures, happily treating rats, rabbits and ferrets. Dr Lynn graduated from Sydney University with a B.VSc (Hons) degree and spent the first 2 years of her career at a practice in the lower Blue Mountains. Following a year with the RSPCA, Dr Lynn spent the next 20 years growing and leading one of the largest and busiest practices in the Western Sydney region. Becoming a Behaviour Veterinarian involved a year of post graduate study followed by 2 years of further study and entrance exams to be admitted as a Member of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Veterinary Behaviour. Since then she has been providing highly sought-after animal behaviour consultations (along with general veterinary medicine and surgery) to the Western Sydney and lower Blue Mountains region. Dr Lynn also has a passion for photography, cooking and gardening, skiing, travel and spending time with her kids.

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• Alana Howard Practice Manager

  Alana Howard Practice Manager

  Alana grew up in NZ on a dairy farm, where she developed her love of animals. Alana completed her veterinary nurse training in NZ in 2001, following which she worked in a busy mixed practice before moving to Australia. In Oz Alana has worked at a busy small animal practice, as well as at a feline specialist clinic and she has owned a pet shop. Alana has two beautiful girls, Ella and Mia, plus eight fur babies: two dogs, Grace and Benji; four cats, Taz, Wally, Gizmo and Honey and two ferrets, Delilah and Tinkerbelle.

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• Dr Gemma Williams Senior Associate and Avian Veterinarian

  Dr Gemma Williams Senior Associate and Avian Veterinarian

  Gemma has been a Veterinary Surgeon for 34 years after graduating from Uni of Qld . She has worked in large animal, mixed, small animal & Avian practices between Lithgow & Penrith. Gemma has a Masters degree in Vet clinical pathology & a Membership of Australian & NZ College of Vet Scientists by examination in Feline medicine. She now focus’ on small animals, exotics & birds. Gemma joined Selwood Vet Hospital this year after being at Lithgow Vet Hospital for 14 years. She moved here to work with a dynamic very experienced team of 4 veterinarians in a beautiful, renovated heritage building. Gemma has developed a special interest in avian medicine after working for 4 years in a practice with a high avian caseload. Birds are not just feathered small animals, so it can be extremely hard to diagnose & treat birds without specialised knowledge of avian medicine. Being a bird vet requires a completely different skill set to being a small animal vet.

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• Dr Maddie Garnache Associate Veterinarian

  Dr Maddie Garnache Associate Veterinarian

  Dr Maddie joined Selwood House in March 2022 following 8 years of experience in mixed animal practice. Maddie brings enormous energy and enthusiasm to her practice as a vet, with a particular passion for soft tissue surgery. Maddie is also a highly skilled rock climber and when not at Selwood spends most of her time scaling cliff-faces or abseiling into many of the Blue Mountain's magnificent canyons.

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• Zoe Gasser Veterinary Nurse

  Zoe Gasser Veterinary Nurse

  Zoe recently completed her Cert IV in Veterinary Nursing. She has grown up with a passion for animals, and has an interest in animal nutrition, behaviour and training. She has a cheeky pup named Ruben, who she has enjoyed training. She also has two bearded dragons (Clover & Daisy), and lots of fish.

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• Lesley Hooley Receptionist and Veterinary Nurse

  Lesley Hooley Receptionist and Veterinary Nurse

  Lesley is born and bred in the blue mountains, she currently lives in winmallee with her husband and 4 year old St Bernard cross, Matilda. She has three grown children and one grandchild! Lesley has been a qualified vet nurse since she left school at 18 years old and has worked at a variety of clinics around the Blue Mountains before ending up with us at Selwood House.

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• Brooke Delaney Senior Veterinary Nurse

  Brooke Delaney Senior Veterinary Nurse

  Brooke joined Selwood House in April 2022 bringing over 20 years of experience as a veterinary nurse. Brooke is highly committed to the welfare of her patients, and has a deep passion in particular for medicine and emergency work. She brings in-depth experience both to Selwood House and to after hours emergency shifts at Blue Mountains Animal Health in Leura.

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• Merin Foran Senior Veterinary Nurse

  Merin Foran Senior Veterinary Nurse

  Merin joined Selwood House in 2021, bringing over 20 years of experience as a veterinary nurse. Merin has a particular passion for wildlife and when not looking after for the animals of the Blue Mountains can be found taking care of her Chevvie or .....

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• Dr Amy Sparks Associate Veterinarian

  Dr Amy Sparks Associate Veterinarian

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