Equine Veterinarians and Staff
Based in Ellensburg, Washington, our equine veterinarians provide expert care to horses across the Pacific Northwest. Whether your horse needs routine vaccinations and care, hoof & foot procedures, lameness evaluations, mare and foal care, or surgery, we have the expertise to ensure the best possible outcome for your horse. We understand how important your horse is to you, and we will treat them with the same care and respect that we would our own.
Experience the Best in Horse Veterinary Care
Owners:
Joseph Bergevin, DVM
Dr. Bergevin grew up on a small ranch in Ellensburg, Washington and was involved in High School and College Rodeo where he participated in tie down roping and team roping. He still enjoys going to ropings and rodeos with his wife in his spare time. He first became interested in veterinary medicine when traveling with his grandpa, who was a veterinarian, as a child. His dad is a farrier in the Puget Sound area and he began working for him at the age of 12.
He attended Central Washington University for undergraduate and graduated from Veterinary School at Washington State University in May of 2015. He completed a one year equine surgical internship at Texas Equine Hospital in Bryan, Texas. Following Texas, he spent time in Lexington, Kentucky working with an Equine Podiatrist and then came home to work for Pilchuck veterinary hospital in Snohomish, Washington. In his spare time he enjoys hanging out with his wife Cassie their son Jimmy and daughter Jaycee Mae. He enjoys going to rodeos and spending time on his family ranch in Ellensburg.
Cassie Bergevin, CPhT - Pharmacy Manager
Cassie Bergevin attended a Pharmacy Technician program in Yakima, Washington where she then graduated in April 2011. She then worked at Washington state university veterinary hospital pharmacy for four years while her now husband completed veterinary school. In 2015 she worked at Texas A&M veterinary hospital pharmacy and moved onto working at Bur Oak veterinary pharmacy in Kentucky. Once moving back to Washington State in 2017 she worked retail pharmacy for a bit but then directed her focus on raising her children.
Cassie grew up on a small farm in Maple valley, Washington. While growing up she participated in local 4-H, barrel races, motocross and rescuing ponies. She met her husband Dr.Joey Bergevin in 2008 and they were married June 7th, 2014. Cassie and Dr Bergevin have two children James Joseph born May 2016 and Jaycee Mae born March 2018. In her spare time she enjoys running the family ranch in Ellensburg, Washington, going to rodeos and spending quality time with friends and family.
Associate Veterinarians:
Dr. Jose M Casillas, DVM, DACVS (LA) - Surgeon
Dr. Casillas grew up between going to school in South Texas and working on a small family ranch in South-Central Mexico.
He attended veterinary school at Colorado State University and received his veterinary degree in 2016. After graduation, he completed a 1-year intensive internship at Texas Equine Hospital gaining experience in sports medicine, emergency medicine, surgery, and podiatry. After the internship, his training continued by completing a 3- year residency in Large Animal Surgery at Michigan State University. Upon completion of the residency, Dr. Casillas was hired at Michigan State as a Clinical Instructor of Large Animal Emergency Medicine and Surgery. Since then, he has also worked in private practices and as a consultant for several practices in the US and Mexico.
Dr. Casillas has experience working with most equine disciplines, from companion horses to high-level athletes in both, private and university type of settings. He enjoys all aspects of equine practice but has a close preference for minimally invasive surgery, sports medicine, rehabilitation, and podiatry. Dr. Casillas is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Jim Lillich, DVM, MS, DACVS - Surgeon
Hailing from Santa Fe, New Mexico he received his bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico. He then traveled to Ft. Collins, Colorado to complete his DVM at Colorado State (Summa Cum Laude, 1991). He completed his large animal Internship in Ithaca, New York at Cornell University. From there he was off to Columbus Ohio to complete his three-year equine surgical residency at The Ohio State University. He has shared his expertise, training veterinary students and residents at Oklahoma State University, and Iowa State University, and was on faculty for 22 years at Kansas State University. Dr. Lillich comes to us with over 30 years of equine surgical experience and is excited to join Dr. Jose Casillas in continuing to build our surgical department. He has over 80 publications and book chapters to his credit. He prides himself on providing excellence if orthopedic surgical conditions, regenerative medicine, as well as general surgery.
Maria Lopez, DVM – Associate Veterinarian
Dr. Lopez grew up between North and Central Mexico. She attended veterinary school at the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and obtained her veterinary degree in 2015. During her last year of college, she had the opportunity to rotate through 7 equine breeding farms within Mexico followed by completing a 1 year internship at an equine breeding farm in Northern Mexico, where she gained experience in general medicine, foaling attendance, management of the mare for breeding with fresh/cooled and frozen semen, management of the problem mare and the first insight into embryo transfer.
Her training continued by completing a 4-year residency program combined with a Master of Science in Equine reproduction at the Western college of Veterinary Medicine, Canada. During this period, she gained experience in reproductive emergencies, advanced reproductive techniques, such as embryo transfer, semen collection and cryopreservation, among other topics.
After completion of her residency, Dr. Lopez was hired as a clinical associate in Equine Field Service at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Canada.
Dr. Lopez has a special preference for management of the problem mare and placentitis, however, she loves all aspects of equine reproduction. During her free time, she enjoys looking for good places to eat, watching horror movies with her 4-year-old long haired cat named Jasper, and traveling.
Management Team:
Abby Slyfield, LVT - Practice Manager, Licensed Veterinary Technician
Abby Slyfield earned her Veterinary Technician License from Yakima Valley College in 2008. After graduating she worked in an equine private practice for 2 years. Her interest for equine medicine continued to grow and she moved on to Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. She worked in the equine surgery and medicine department from 2010-2017. At WSU she got to combine her passion for teaching and equine medicine. In 2017, Abby got married and moved to Ellensburg, Washington. Then expanded her experience as a veterinary technician and worked in a mixed animal practice and at Yakima Valley College teaching in the Veterinary Technician Program.
Abby’s spare time is filled with all things outdoors. She and her husband enjoy trail riding, hunting, and hiking together; and Abby competes in barrel racing with her two horses.
Pam Poole LVT - Operations Mgr, Anesthesia Technician
Pam grew up on her parents farm, Valley View Ranch, in Snohomish, WA showing horses in many disciplines with the majority being on the hunter/jumper circuit. She started her veterinary career in the late 90s mucking out stalls in a local veterinary hospital, working her way up to assisting in both the equine and bovine departments. She went to technician school at Pierce College and worked in laboratory medicine and mixed animal until landing back in the equine department as lead technichian in 2004, moving into managerial positions in 2017. She joined CWEH in september of 2021 as operations manager and anesthetist. Her career passions include equine anesthesia, diagnostic imaging, team building, and workflow organization. In her non work times she can be found shuffling kids to sporting events, working on her and her husband, Kevin's, property in Snohomish alongside a myriad of four legged helpers, or rockhounding somewhere in the PNW.
Beritt Dompier - Accounting, CSR, Vet Assisting
Beritt grew up in the small town of Cedar Fort Utah, where her and her family spent most of their time in the roping pen. Following her families tradition, she began riding horses and competing in rodeo at a very young age. She competed in breakaway and team roping in jr high and high school rodeo which lead to her receiving a rodeo scholarship at Walla Walla Community College. In 2019 she qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo and competed in the breakaway roping for the Pacific Northwest Region. She graduated from WWCC in 2019 and soon after decided to make Washington home. She married her husband Dillon and in 2021 they had their daughter Louie Jeanne.
Beritt knew at a young age that she enjoyed working with horses and she began working at South Valley Equine in 2015 as a Vet Assistant. She continued to work there until she completed school and soon after began working at a private small animal practice in Ellensburg for 1 year. Her passion for horses has lead her to want to continue working in the veterinary field and she began working at Central Washington Equine Hospital in early 2021. At CWEH you can find her assisting in all areas such as CSR, Vet Assistant, and in the finance department. In her spare time, Beritt enjoys spending time with her family and her animals outside of work strives to lead by example for her daughter Louie.
Licensed Veterinary Technicians:
Renee Houljberg, LVT – Licensed Veterinary Technician
Renee grew up on a thoroughbred breeding farm and in a family that still actively participates in racing. From childhood Renee knew her passion was for equine medicine and she was able to nurture that form a very young age thanks to the many equine doctors who provided care at the family’s farm and at the racetrack. Renee graduated veterinary technician school in 2009 and worked in equine sports medicine for many years, eventually she meet her now husband and set down roots in Ellensburg. Renee has worked in a diverse variety of settings and locations throughout her career including some mixed practice but primarily in equine exclusive settings with a focus on sports medicine, general practice and even a stent with the Washington State Horse Racing Commission. Renee has shown a commitment to life long learning and recently earned her BSHCA degree. Renee joined the team at CWEH in 2023 and can often be found in surgery as one of our Equine anesthetist. She enjoyed being part of a team that brings exceptional care and medicine to our equine community. In her off work time you are likely to fine Renee spending time with her two kids or in the arena with her husband and horses.
Carlee Houle, LVT – Licensed Veterinary Technician
Carlee spent her time growing up in the hills of Kittitas County, where her family packed into multiple lakes and fall hunting camps in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and Teanaway Valley with their horses and mules. She has also spent her summers working on her family's hay ranch in the Teanaway, as well as neighboring hay ranches moving irrigation, tedding, baling, and bucking hay for clients. In her spare time, Carlee enjoys packing and trail riding with her dog Lady May, horse Noche, and her family's mules, Murphy, Grace, and Dallas. She also enjoys fishing and spending time outdoors with family and friends.
Carlee started her career in veterinary medicine by earning her Veterinary Technician License in 2022 from Yakima Valley College. She began working in a local mixed animal practice as their main equine technician where her passion for equine medicine grew. Carlee joined the CWEH team in March 2024, and aspires to pursue earning her veterinary technician specialty accreditation in equine veterinary nursing, and is currently taking particular interest in sports medicine, lameness workup, and anesthesia.
Veterinary Assistants:
Anndie Lund - Veterinary Assistant
Anndie grew up in a small town in Utah roping and riding horses any chance she had. She competed in junior high and high school rodeos, which led to her attending school at Central Washington University where she competed in college rodeos while receiving her bachelor's of science degree in mechanical engineering technologies. She returned to Utah each summer to work at an equine hospital, where she learned to love helping horses. Anndie worked for CWEH part time during her senior year of college and started full time after graduation.
Anndie met and married her husband Derek, making her a full time Ellensburg resident in March of 2022. She loves the Kittitas valley and the opportunities that the valley provides to trail ride, rope, and fish.
Lydia Johnson - Veterinary Assistant
Lydia Johnson grew up in southwestern Washington on her family's dairy farm. Throughout her childhood she participated in Jr. Rodeo, High School rodeo as well as 4-h and FFA. Lydia attended Central Washington University where she competed in college rodeo. She graduated in 2020 with degrees in Environmental Resource geography, Rangeland management and Geospatial information systems, with a main focus on feral horse population management. Lydia moved to Montana shortly after graduation to work on an off-range holding facility for feral horses although; the job didn't pan out due to the pandemic, Lydia got a job working on pack station. Summer time included guiding pack trips into the Yellowstone and driving sleigh rides in the winter time. In 2022, Lydia moved back to Ellensburg to join the team here at Central Washington Equine Hospital and continue her passion for horses. She is currently back in school to earn a License as a Veterinary Technician. In Lydia's free time she enjoys riding her horses, being outdoors, spending time with family and traveling.
Rachel Burke – Veterinary Assistant
Rachel grew up in a small town in southwestern Washington on her family’s farm. Growing up she showed livestock in 4-H, FFA and rode horses whenever she got the chance. She attended Washington State University where she received her Bachelor's of Animal Science 2021. During her time at WSU I enjoyed being a teacher's assistant for the young horse handling classes and working at the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. After college she moved to Ellensburg Washington to start working at Orrion Farms. She was at Orrion Farms for almost two years where some of her favorite parts were being on the foaling teams and working on the training side of the barn. After about two years there she really missed being in the veterinary field and started working here at CWEH. She is hoping to attend Veterinary school in the future where she plans to specialize in equine medicine.
In my free time she enjoys riding horses, spending time with friends and family, fishing, and being outside. This summer, her boyfriend Gabe plans to move to Ellensburg, and they hope to find a place with property where they can have their horses and raise some livestock of their own eventually.
Alexis Zifer – Veterinary Assistant
Alexis grew up barrel racing in Northern CA, and began cleaning kennels in a small animal clinic at age 15. She has worked in a variety of veterinary settings over the years including the Equine ICU departments at both Hagyard and UC Davis. Her passion lies in Equine Emergency and Critical Care She works primarily with our hospitalized patients, emergencies, assisting in surgery, and shadowing Anesthesia as she is currently back in school to earn her LVT.
Alexis enjoys hiking with her two rescue dogs, Gypsy and Ariat, and traveling the world whenever possible. She is an avid trail rider with her semi-retired Draught cross, Zephyr; she jumps and competes in Limited Distance Endurance with her Appendix mare, Wyshes; and she recently acquired an Arabian filly, Ellis who she aspires to have a full endurance career with, and complete the Tevis Cup in 2027.
Lakeshore Rehabilitation:
Jess Hartley - Veterinary Assistant
Jess was born and raised in a small town on the island of Maui where she discovered her passion for horses at a young age. She started competing in hunter/jumpers and rodeo but was introduced to polo at age 12. She and a few of her friends established Hawaii’s first female interscholastic polo team that went on to place in the top 5 at nationals. She then pursued polo at the collegiate level attending Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA where she and her team placed 3rd in the nation. She was offered a position in Calgary, BC training and managing a string of high-goal polo horses for the 2016 season.
Jess then moved to Washington later that year where she started working at Broadway Animal Hospital. Tending to a wide variety of small and exotic animals, she fell in love with veterinary medicine but found herself wanting to learn more about her equine athletes. She transferred to a large animal practice as an equine ambulatory and surgery assistant. In 2021, she joined the CWEH team excited to further her experience in assisting with lameness cases. She and her boyfriend Matt have two dogs and six horses. They enjoy training horses, competing in rodeos, hunting, fishing, and spending time with friends.
Receptionist/CSR:
Rileigh McClure - Receptionist
Rileigh grew up on a beef cattle ranch in Eastern Oregon, where she participated in junior rodeo and 4H. She attended Montana State University and graduated in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in Animal Science with a concentration in Equine Science. During college, Rileigh was on the IHSA team and was able to travel around Montana and Utah competing against other Universities. A year after graduation, Rileigh moved to Ellensburg and accepted a position at Central Washington Equine Hospital. She knew she wanted to pursue a career in the equine industry and was ecstatic to start at CWEH.
Interns/Externs:
Gabi Abbott, DVM - Intern
Dr. Abbott is originally from northeast Iowa but her family moved several times before settling in northwest Arkansas. This led her to attending the University of Arkansas where she received her bachelor's in Animal Science with an Equine Concentration in 2020. During undergrad, she also began working at a referral equine hospital in Oklahoma that exposed her to many different aspects of the equine veterinary industry. Dr. Abbott then continued on to veterinary school at Louisiana State University. She achieved her DVM in May 2024. Dr. Abbott would like to pursue a large animal surgical residency after her internship. In her spare time, Dr. Abbott enjoys spending time with friends and exploring with her dog Harvard.
Maggie Downer, DVM - Intern
Dr. Downer grew up in Seattle, Washington. She showed a special interest in caring for all animals, especially horses, at a young age, and started riding at the age of 5. Most of her summers from junior high school into college were spent competing in the jumper circuit on the West Coast and Canada. Her interest in veterinary medicine started in high school, where she saw a career opportunity to combine her love of working with horses and people with her passion for biology and physiology.
Dr. Downer received a Bachelor of Science in Physiology from the University of Washington, and continued on to veterinary school at Washington State University where she received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2024. She is especially interested in equine internal and emergency medicine, but is looking forward to the opportunity to develop skills in all aspects of equine practice. Dr. Downer moved to Ellensburg this summer with her horse, Cali, and her dog, Rosie. In her free time she enjoys riding, trail running, skiing, and making anything sourdough.
Apply Now for Internships
Veterinary students are invited to apply for internships with us. For more details, please refer to our ad on AAEP. You will need to log in or create an account to apply.
Our practice also welcomes externs. Please reach out to Abby at aslyfield@centralwashingtonequinehospital.com for more information and availability. Housing may be available.
Janel Holden, LVT, VTS (Anesthesia/Analgesia) - Licensed Veterinary Technician, Anesthesia Technician
Janel grew up in the small farming town of Rockford, Washington. Janel has enjoyed showing horses her whole life and has competed in 4-H, Washington State Horseman, and American Quarter Horse Association horse shows in the all-around events. When she is not riding a horse, she enjoys spending time either floating down the river with her dogs, camping, fishing, or finding new outdoor adventures to experience.
Janel graduated from the Veterinary Technology program at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom in 2001 and became a Licensed Veterinary Technician. She started working at Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital immediately afterwards and has spent the last 23 years helping teach 4th year veterinary students on their clinical rotations. Janel started out in the Equine Surgery/Sport Medicine and Large Animal Radiology departments for the first 4 years at WSU. She then spent the next 15 years in the Anesthesia department where she obtained her Veterinary Technician Specialist Certification in Anesthesia and Analgesia in 2011. Since then, she has been a contributing author in a few books that focus on small and large animal anesthesia and pain management. She transferred to the Cardiology department for a brief time and continues to work for them part-time remotely coding and analyzing 24 hrs. ECG Holter recordings on mostly dogs and occasionally cats and horses.
Janel joined the CWEH team in November of 2023 after moving to Roy, Washington. She works part-time anesthetizing horses for surgical procedures and assisting with appointments.